The Night of the Evil Artists
by Marlita Jones
Summary: James and Artie have to find two missing uncles: one is a famous painter and the other one is a famous chemists. They will discover, later on, that the two missing uncles unwillingly share something in common, and that James and Artie better find them soon or else a catastrophic event will happen in Washington!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

NO ONE IS WELCOMED

James slowly pushed the swinging doors of the bar. As he entered the old establishment , he had the distinct impression that he was not welcomed there. He quickly glanced at the men who were sitting at the small tables, sipping their drinks. They sure didn't look like choir boys. They were dirty men, filled with anger ready to pounce on someone or anyone for no reason, just because they felt like it. A couple of other men were playing darts at the back of the bar. The place was known to be filled with men who worked on cargo ships. It was not a place for a lady.

Once James finished his quick glance at the place, he then approached the bar, on his right, where a bartender, with an eye patch, was polishing a glass, sitting down on a stool behind the counter. The man looked like he didn't bathed for weeks!

"I'll have a scotch".

James stood at the bar, one feet resting on the bar rail. He reached into his small vest pocket to get his money out and waited.

The bar tender, barely looked at him, as if, not impressed by this new customer. He then slowly got up, as if, James was bothering him, and went to get the bottle of scotch.

When he came back to see James, the bottle in his hands, he nonchalantly poured him a glass, looking at James suspiciously.

"You're not from around here."

"No, you're right, I'm just passing. How much for the drink?" replied James, very calmly.

"10 cents" simply said the man, with a surprisingly low voice.

James then deliberately took his time to get the money out of his pocket. He slowly took out a 10 dollar bill and placed it right in front of the guy.

The man's face suddenly changed. He took the dollar bill in his hands and looked at it closely.

"I can't give you the change for a 10$ bill!"

He looked annoyed.

"Why not?" simply asked James with an innocent voice.

James stood there, poised as he could be, but knew that things were about to change. The bartender's voice got a little louder, as if he wanted his customers to hear their conversations.

"Your 10 bill is no good here! Do you understand? I won't accept your 10 dollar bill!"

James suddenly felt the eyes of the dirty men in his back.

"Why is that? Because it's fake!?"

As soon as James finished saying word "FAKE", he quickly bent down, because James saw, in the reflection of the mirror, that a chair had been thrown at him. He ducked as the chair crashed into the mirror behind the bar blowing it into little pieces.

The bartender was now hiding behind the counter as James turned around to meet his aggressors. The guy who had thrown the chair, tried punching him but Jim blocked him just in time to punch him right in the stomach.

While fighting his assailant, Jim saw, on the corner of his eyes, two other guys, coming his way, ready to assault him.

He grabbed a chair on his right and quickly threw it at the men. The chair made them fall to their backs.

Coming out of nowhere, a bottle was thrown at him, and James ducked just in time to let it crash on the wall behind him. The liquid splashed on the walls all around it.

"It's going to be harder then I thought."

James stood up, but didn't have time to stop a powerful uppercut to his jaw.

"Damn it" he thought, frustrated not not have seen this one coming. He felt the pain irradiate through his teeth.

His response was to reply with his best counterpunch and his assailant fell backwards on a small table that was behind him.

With not too much effort, James fought 3 other guys. He received a few punches but gave way more then he received. The other men that stood at the back of the bar, got up and left the place, realizing that James was not to be reckoned with.

As James threw his last punch and thought that the fight was over, he straightened up and suddenly felt an object pass near his head, nearly missing him by and inch.

His reaction was to look at the place the knife had landed. A poor woman, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, was standing at the entrance of the bar and had the misfortune to receive the knife right in her shoulder. She let out a terrifying scream just before falling to her knees on the floor.

James, still breathing heavily from the fight, quickly ran toward the wounded woman.

"Who are you?" he asked frantically as he quickly pulled out the knife and applied pressure to the wound with a pocket scarf he had in his vest pocket.

The woman had by now, trouble breathing. She was in deep pain.

"I'm Augusta Jackson ...I...I was supposed to meet you earlier tonight..."

The poor woman was now in a lot of pain. She had a terrified look on her face.

"Miss Jackson! Why on earth would you come here? We were supposed to meet at the post office!"

James frantically tried to stop the bleeding but his scarf was getting damped with blood by the second.

"I'm terribly...sorry..." said the woman with more and more difficulty to breath, " I was late and missed our rendez-vous...and..I thought I might find you here..."

She was now in total despair.

"Don't worry, it will be okay." said James, "I'll get you to the doctor."

James easily picked up Augusta from the floor and bolted out of the bar with the injured woman in his arms. He ran straight to the doctor's office.

The poor old doctor was very surprise when a man kicked his front door like it was made out of thin cardboard.

He stood up surprised by such an entrance.

"Who are you? What is wrong? "

And when he realized that James held an injured woman in his arms, he added, "What happened to this woman?"

James slowly placed Augusta on the small makeshift bed there was in the doctor's office. It wasn't much but he knew it was the place to be.

"She was stabbed in the arm. She is losing a lot of blood. Can you help her?"

Augusta was in a lot of pain and was shaking uncontrollably.

It showed that the good old doctor had seen worst; he was already prepared with his suture kit.

"It's gonna hurt like hell, give her some scotch while I prepare her for the intervention."

Jim looked around and quickly found the bottle on a small counter. He helped Augusta up a bit so she could take a couple of sips of the strong liquor. She was clearly not used to drinking and coughed a couple of times but Jim insisted she drank more. The doctor did not waste anytime and ripped the sleeve off her dress.

"It will help you feel more relaxed, you should drink 2 more sips." insisted James.

Augusta obeyed, hoping that this scotch would help her get through this horrific moment and lesser the pain. She was clearly not getting used to the strong scotch and coughed again.

James placed the bottle down and held her other hand while trying to change her mind from what was going to happen; he could see the doctor examining her wound, there was a lot of blood.

"Miss Jackson...how did you know who I was?"

"I saw you picture in the newspaper, you and your partner were standing with the President, and the article said you were two incredible agents...ouch!"

The good old doctor had started sewing her up.

Augusta tried looking at what the doctor's was doing to her but Jim placed himself between her and the doctor so she would not see all the blood. It was not a pretty scene indeed.

"So..you wrote me because...you said something about a missing person?" asked Jim, trying to get her mind on something else.

"Yes...ouch! "

"Don't move Miss! Let me get you stitched up!" said the doctor not waisting any time.

"I'm sorry, it's just that it really hurts!" said Augusta cringing and almost crying.

"Miss Jackson" continued James, " tell me who's missing, someone close to you?" He was hoping to make her focus on something else and wanted to know more about the missing person at the same time.

The young woman returned her attention to James who was still gently holding her hand.

"Yes...my uncle is missing. I thought you could help me find him, his name his Henry Jackson."

James looked away for a second then added, "Professor Henry Jackson? He is your uncle?" he asked with a surprised look on his face.

"Yes" she said wincing, " I went to meet him at his hotel, and he was nowhere to be found! He has been missing for a week now...we have to do something! I am really worried!"

Augusta grimaced. The doctor was doing a great job but it was a severe wound for such a tiny arm.

James continued his questioning .

"Miss Jackson, why did you come to that filthy bar? Why didn't you wait for me at the post office?" he asked still holding her hand.

"I'm truly sorry but I...I figured that since I was late, that you would have gone to take a drink...or something...and since this bar was the closest to the post office..."

"But, you were not late Miss Jackson, I wrote you in my telegram that I would meet you at 7 o'clock! It was barely 6:30!"

Augusta grimaced and realized that she had read the telegram all wrong.

"My mistake, probably, I... was convinced that we were meeting at 6 o'clock."

"No need to worry, I will help you find your uncle, because, believe or not, my parter once worked with your uncle and, he would be really mad at me if we did not help you find him."

Augusta was relieved to hear that, even though she was still wincing from the pain.

"Really? Your partner worked with him? What are the chances! You will help me find him?"

James nodded his head.

"I will forever be grateful! You don't know how I have been worried!"

"Do you have a place to stay for tonight?" asked Jim, wanting to make sure she would be okay.

"Yes, I have a room at the Cole hotel, down the street."

She grimaced again from the pain.

"Will she be okay to stay on her own, doc?" asked Jim , turning toward the doctor.

"She will sleep like a baby after I give her some medicine for the pain. I will go visit her, early tomorrow morning to see if she is doing okay. She should be okay, don't worry. I cleaned the wound and did a pretty good job sewing her up."

The doctor was now putting his suture kit away and started to place a huge bandage around her tiny arm.

Minutes later, James was gallantly walking Augusta back to her room. The scotch and the medication had started to make her feel a bit tipsy.

James helped her up the stairs back to her room and told her he would be back tomorrow to start looking for her uncle. He asked a woman who worked in the small hotel to help Augusta take her dress off and get ready for bed.

Moments later Augusta was lying down on her bed, and quickly fell asleep. It was too much emotion for one night.

 **Later that night...**

After a long horse ride, James finally came back to the train and entered the wagon with only one thing in mind, get some good rest. As he was entering the main wagon, James stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Artie, trying to sleep on one of the small couch in the main living room. His feet stood out for the sofa and his blanket seemed to small to cover his whole body.

Jim stood there, in the darkness of the room and wondered what Artie was doing there.

"Artie?" he asked, whispering.

"Mmm?"

"What on earth are you doing there?" whispered James, curious.

"I'm sleeping here because there's a woman in my bedroom."

Artie's tone of voice was sleepy and irritated.

James arched his eyebrows.

"A... woman?"

Artie continued to speak to his partner without looking at him. He was trying to keep his eyes closed not to become too awaken. It was hard enough trying to fall sleep on this tiny sofa.

"Yes...a woman..." Artie sighed then continued, " Don't ask me to explain this situation tonight...it's been a long day and...I would like to get some sleep on this incredible tiny sofa...you understand, right?"

Jim repressed a laugh.

Artie then added,

"I would ask about your day, but I know it might wake me up even more because you have probably been in a fight and...well...we all know how it usually turns out...I'll wait until tomorrow for the details, you don't mind, Jim?"

"Of course not Artie...I guess you have a good explanation for the woman in your room, right?" replied James amused by this situation.

"Yes Jim...I will tell you...all in good time." Artie sighed then added " I just wanna get some sleep before tomorrow morning...but this stupid little sofa is it helping at all!"

Jim repressed a laugh again, and walked right by his partner who had his eyes half closed and was still trying to get comfortable.

"Sweet dreams Artie..."

"Sweet dreams Jim." said Artie knowing that his partner was laughing at the situation.

Then, just before James was almost out of sight, he added,

"No peaking into my room Jim, you will meet her tomorrow."

Artie heard James sigh, then disappear in the small corridor without any further conversation.

Those two would have lots of explaining to do.

The end chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Coincidence?

James awoken with a smell of fresh coffee. Still a bit sleepy, he slowly opened his eyes, and looked around his room. He heard muffles voices coming from the main living room. He wondered at first who Artie was talking to. He squinted his eyes and realized after a few seconds that Artie was speaking with a woman.

James instinctively tried to hear what they were saying and while he was tending his ear, though that the lady, had a very pleasant tone of voice. Then, out of the blue, it suddenly hit him.

It was the mysterious woman Artie was talking about las night!

"I better get dressed if I want to meet this mysterious woman." thought James while quickly getting out of his bed and heading toward the small bathroom he shared with Artie. The prospect of meeting a woman with a beautiful voice, had completely awaken him.

There, he began washing his face and noticed in the small mirror that he had a bruise on his left cheek.

"Damn it!" cursed James," that bastard left me a souvenir from last night."

He wasn't too thrilled either that his jaw was a bit sore. Nevertheless, he had to get out there before Artie would leave with the woman, James' curiosity got the best of him.

Moments later he had cleaned up and gotten dressed. While putting on the finishing details: hidden gun, knife and explosives in his heel, he kept wondering how she ended up in Artie's bed.

"I bet Artie has a good explanation for this." Thought James while leaving his quarters.

As he entered the living room, Jim finally saw the woman with the beautiful voice. She was sitting down across Artie, drinking coffee and eating scrambled eggs. As soon as Artie noticed James's presence, he quickly placed his cup on the table and made the presentations. For some obvious reasons, Artie was all smiles today!

"Jim, my boy! Let me present you Miss Spencer."

James approached the table and gently took the woman's hand. She had a very charming smile and seemed to be in her mid 20's. She was a very beautiful woman with lots of sex appeal.

"Pleased to meet you Miss Spencer, I'm James West."

"Likewise Mister West."

James smiled but stayed rather coi.

"Don't mind if I poor myself some coffee, it was a very long night last night." said James picking up the coffee pot on the adjacent table and pouring himself a good cup.

"Miss Spencer came here yesterday because she is worried sick about her uncle." continued Artie, with his usual manners.

James arched one eyebrow and chose to sit next to Artie.

"Your uncle Miss Spencer?" he asked showing a bit of surprise.

The woman had by now put down her fork down, she was almost done eating anyways. She had a worried look in her face.

"Yes, my uncle, George Spencer, the painter...may be you know him?"

James took a sip of the hot beverage and answered politely;

"Yes, I know who George Spencer is. He's a renowned painter. What's wrong with him?"

"Well...you see, my uncle was supposed to meet with his good friend Brett Allen, he owns a huge ranch in Bronston, he was supposed to paint the portrait of his grand-daughter...but he never made it."

Artie continued,

"Miss Spencer came here last night and asked if we could try and find her uncle, he has been missing for more then a week now."

James, coi, took another sip of his coffee.

"I see...he's been missing for a week...and you would like us to find him."

"Why, yes! I have heard so much about you in the newspaper lately, that I figured you would be the ones to help me out!"

It was clearly a cry for help.

"Let me think..." added James, " You saw our picture in the newspaper...with President Grant."

The woman's face lighted up.

"Yes! This is where I saw both of you!"

Artie got up and placed his napkin on the table. It felt as is he needed to sit up to make his point to his partner.

"What do you say, Jim...may be we could try and find him...he can't be far, right? May be he got lost on his way to the ranch? I think we could easily find out what happened to him!"

Artie's intentions were clear; anything to find the beautiful woman's uncle. James knew that he was probably under her spell...after all, the woman was gorgeous! James also got up and joined his partner.

"Artie, I think we should let Miss Spencer return to her hotel..."

James hesitated a bit then turned around and asked Dorothy,

"You do have a room at the hotel downtown, right?"

It was more an affirmation then a question.

"Yes, I do...it's just that...well... I came in so late last night that... I didn't feel secure to go back on my own.I asked mister Gordon if I could spend the night here. It was very late..and I was all alone to go back in town... and it scared me. He was gentleman enough to offer me his room."

Dorothy Spencer gave Artie a big beautiful smile while looking at him under her beautiful eye lashes. She had the most amazing green eyes.

James stood there and admired the scene, still calm as ever.

" I see..." he paused a bit, "let me tell what we'll do, Miss Spencer. You go back to your hotel room, and Artie and I will contact you to let you know about the search for your uncle...it's just that we need to talk about things and, since it is a lovely day, you will be okay to go back to your hotel room, won't you? What room is it again?"

The woman seemed speechless for a moment.

" Oh...I'm staying in room 2."

"At the Cole hotel?"

"Yes...that's the only decent place I could find."

"Perfect." replied James.

He escorted the woman to the front of the car as Artie followed the pair, bringing the charming woman, her purse and scarf. He knew that James wasn't usually in such a hurry to make a beautiful woman leave the place. He knew his partner probably had something in his mind and was eager to find out what it was.

"Now, be safe and we should be able to contact you later tonight, Miss Spencer.

The woman gave James and Artie a very charming smile.

"So, you will help me find him? You know I am worried sick about him!"

Artie gently pushed James on the side and gently placed his hands on Dorothy Spencer's shoulders, as if to claim her and then added,

"Yes, Miss Spencer, we will help you find him! Don't you worry about a thing! You will soon hear from us. "

Artie was all eyes for her.

The gorgeous woman then exited the room and went back to town with her horse buggy.

Artie then turned around , walked back to the small breakfast table and started to clean up the place where Dorothy Spencer ate. He then refilled James's coffee and gave him a plate with 2 hard boiled eggs and some toasted bread. He knew his partner usually enjoyed eggs for breakfast and appreciated that he was not a picky eater. James came and joined his busy partner.

"Artie..."

James took Dorothy Spencer's place and started to eat the eggs, he was famished.

"Yes Jim."

Artie sat down on his own chair and looked at Jim, intrigued at what he was going to say.

"We need to talk...about last night..." said his partner trying not to speak with his mouth open.

James had a very serious expression on his face.

"About Miss Spencer, you mean? You know I would never try anything...I am a gentleman Jim!" said Artie a tiny built offended.

James sighed. He knew his partner was joking.

"No! I'm not talking about that Artie! I know you! Miss Spencer was in good hands with you...well...rather..not in your hands Artie...you know what I'm saying! I mean, I need to tell you what happened to me last night, then you will understand why I acted this way."

James had by now Artie's full attention.

"Okay Jim, what happened...did you visit the establishment where, we thought you would get a lead on that counterfeit money?"

"I got plenty on my plate last night Artie! You won't believe what happened!"

James had by now consumed his 2 hard boiled eggs and his toasted bread. He usually didn't waste time eating. He took a couple of sips of coffee to wash it down.

" Meaning...?" replied Artie, not knowing what James was talking about.

" I went to the saloon and, as expected, they were not too happy to see me there. There was indeed a fight and... sadly I could not talk to anyone about the counterfeit money, because, as soon as I mention the fact that the money was fake, a fight erupted. The poor woman I was going to meet later on that evening, had the misfortune of standing in the middle of the doorway and got stabbed in her arm by a knife that was meant for me."

"Dear Lord! Is she okay?" asked Artie, worried about the poor woman.

"Yes, I managed to get to the doctor who did a pretty good job with her wound. I was supposed to meet her later on, but she somehow got the time of hour meeting wrong and thought I would be hanging out at the bar, and so she decided to come and search for me...the thing is, Artie..."

James was relaxed in his chair but had a very serious look on his face.

"What? What happened?" asked Artie very curious about the events.

"Her uncle is also missing."

Artie leaned forward, intrigued by what his partner had just said.

"Her uncle? Did I hear right?"

"Yes Artie, another uncle is missing and you will never know who her famous uncle is!"

Artie looked at his partner and shrugged his shoulder.

"Should I know him?"

"You should remember him Artie...I think you worked with him, right? The chemist? Professor Jackson?"

Artie's face changed from neutral to worried in seconds.

"Professor Henry Jackson? Why yes! ! I know the man very well! He is a brilliant chemist that thought me almost everything I know about chemistry! Has he been kidnapped?"

Artie's tone was higher then usual. He really had a profound admiration for the man and hearing that news, troubled him.

"It would appear so." simply answered James, still resting on the chair with his usual calm. He then added, " I need to talk to her niece today to find out more about this situation."

Artie stood up and walked nervously around the living room.

"Henry Jackson has been kidnapped, and Miss Spencer's uncle also? Don't you think that's a bit too coincidental ?" Asked Artie, still pacing.

"That's exactly my point Artie...something's up...but I don't know what exactly ...both woman said they saw us in the newspaper, you know...the picture we took with President Grant at the inauguration last month?"

"Yeah Yeah...I remember." answered Artie, with his mind elsewhere."So...here's what I think..." said James standing up. " I will go back in town and speak with Augusta Jackson, and, you should go back and try to find out what's happening with Miss Spencer..."

Artie nodded his head.

"Perfect James, let's meet here and later on tonight and we will share our informations...there's got to be a connection here...this smells fishy to me." replied Artie, approving of his partner's plan.

James agreed by just taping his partner's shoulder.

"I agree, let's go find out! I'm gonna go and get the horses ready. Meet me in a couple of minutes."

On these last words, James tuned his heels around and went straight to the stable car to get the horses ready.

The two men rode to town with the firm intention of learning more about the two disappearances.

Once they arrived in Grinsburgh, they headed straight to Cole Hotel, since the two nieces were staying at the same place. Coincidence? May be...may be not!

They entered the hotel and parted ways; James toward the end of the corridor and Artie to room number two.

End of chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

**Stay focus, Artemus!**

"May I come in Miss Spencer?" asked Artemus after knocking on the door.

He heard her muffled voice coming from her room.

"Yes, please, do come in!"

Following orders, Artemus slowly opened the door and found himself standing in a dimmed light room. Dorothy Spencer had closed the heavy window drapes.

As soon as his eyes got adjusted to the darkness of the bedroom, Artie's gaze stoped on a changing screen that was on this left and realized that Dorothy Spencer was changing clothes behind a screen.

"Oh! I can come back if you need time to change Miss."

Artemus didn't know where to look. He seemed a bit uncomfortable being there as Dorothy Spencer was half naked behind the screen.

Dorothy started to laugh.

"Please Mister Gordon, a man of your class must have been in this situation many times, no?

Artemus smiled out of politeness.

"Yes" he hesitated before continuing, "I have to admit that I have met many beautiful woman in my lifetime."

Dorothy Spencer was still behind the screen.

"I am truly sorry for making you wait, but, I was not quite ready and wanted to change into something more comfortable for our travel...we are still going to see my father's friend, right?" she asked with a sexy tone of voice.

"That is the plan, yes." said Artemus trying not to be too curious; that changing screen had some huge gaps in between the panels.

Dorothy Spencer's arms and legs were all over the place. She seemed to have trouble getting dressed...or was she?

"Mister Gordon..." she hesitated a bit, " can I call you Artemus, after all...we will be working together until we find my uncle, right? You can call me Dorothy if you want, I would prefer that."

Artemus' attention was distracted by a long sexy leg coming out of the side of the screen.

"Yes... please, call me Artemus...by all means!"

"Artemus?" asked Dorothy with a very sensual voice,"Would you mind helping me with my little button boots? I am having such a hard time bending down with this dress!"

Dorothy came out of hiding wearing a beautiful blue dress, holding her little boots in each hand.

"Would you help me lace them, please?"

As a true gentlemen, Artemus obligated and helped her lace her boots. Dorothy Spencer sat in her chair while Artemus bent down and placed her ankle on his thigh to gently put her boots on.

Dorothy's dress somehow seemed to go up her leg every time Artie tightened the laces.

"May be this will help you see better?" said Dorothy, pulling up her dress even higher.

Artemus tried his best to focus on the task at hand but couldn't resist and quickly glanced at what Dorothy Spencer was offering him.

"You have a job to do, Gordon!" thought Artemus while returning his attention to the little boots.

He finished the job so quickly that Dorothy Spencer seemed sad that it didn't last any longer.

Artemus quickly stood up and looked at the woman with a serious expression.

"I think we're all done here." said Artemus in a polite tone.

Dorothy Spencer got up and approached Artie.

" Thank you Artemus. You are such a gentleman...you see...I want to look my best for Mister Allen. We have not seen each other in ages!" said Dorothy Spencer while slowly getting closer to him. She was wearing a wonderful perfume that smelled liked roses.

Artie didn't answer right away. He stood in front of her and admired the beautiful woman. He also took a second to smell the fragrance of her sweet perfume.

Dorothy Spencer knew her charms were working on him.

"Do you like my perfume Artemus?" she asked gently.

Artemus quickly regained control of his emotions. He had a job to do!

"Yes... now...shall we go?" he suddenly asked as if he was emerging from a sudden coma. "Bronston is after all, an hour away."

Artie was already walking toward the door.

Dorothy looked around her room, picked up her little purse and joined Artie. There, just before he could open the door and leave the room, she approached him and gently placed her hand on his chest, refraining him to exit the place.

Artie stood there, not sure what was going to happen.

"Artemus, oh... what a lovely name you have, so chivalrous."

Artie stood tall and was trapped between her and the wall.

"Yes, I guess we could say I was chivalrous a couple of times in my life."

He was so very tempted to get lost in her beautiful eyes, but remained professional.

Dorothy Spencer got even closer.

"I..." she batted her eyelashes, " I feel so lucky to have found you! Thank you so much. You don't know how much I was worried about my uncle."

"Don't worry Miss Spencer..."

She interrupted him.

"Please...Dorothy."

"Yes...Dorothy. We will find out what happened. Your uncle can't be that far."

Then, and only then, did Dorothy Spencer backed away from Artie and opened the door to get out of the room.

Artie could breath at last. That Dorothy Spencer sure had a special way of showing her gratitude.

End of chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 DANGEROUS ROADS.

 **Meanwhile in Augusta Jackson's room.**

"So..." recapitulated Jim, "Your uncle was supposed to go to a convention that was held at Konstantinos Provosky's estate, right?"

The young woman was sitting down on a small chair near the window of her room. The light made her blond hair look even whiter. She had her arm in a sling and looked rested, considering what had happened the night before.

"Yes, he told me weeks ago how he was excited to finally meet with his chemist friends. The convention, gives the chance to chemists, scientists and professors from different cities to show off their new inventions and gadgets. It also gives them the chance to meet new friends and see the old ones...exchange on their favorite subjects..."

Augusta was unconsciously caressing her injured arm.

"Are you in pain?" asked James worried that her arm might be hurting at the moment.

"Just a little bit" admitted Augusta. "I took some medication for the pain."

"I guess it will hurt for a couple of days...but I must say that I'm very happy the doctor did a great job on you. Did he say when you could have your wound checked again?" asked James still standing in the middle of the room.

Augusta looked at his beautiful blue eyes and returned his smile.

"The doctor looked at my wound this morning and said that there was no sign of infection at all. The cut is healing very nicely. I will go see him in 2 days and have my bandages changed...I do have medication with me in case it starts hurting, but to tell you the truth, it's not that bad actually...other then having to be careful not to use my left arm. I can manage this kind of pain, for now."

She slowly got up to join James in the middle of the bedroom.

"This is good news, you don't want any infection setting in. I feel responsible for what happened to you last night. This knife was meant for me...not for you. I'm glad the doc did a good job on you." admitted James.

Augusta Jackson was still standing in front of him.

"I must say that this was not a pleasant experience, but at the same time, I am very grateful that you were there with me. Thank you." said Augusta surprisingly very calm.

James stood there, not knowing what to say. The moment was getting a little bit too personal for him.

"So...do you have the address of Mr. Provosky's estate, may be we could go and meet him? May be he heard news about your uncle, who knows? That's the first place I think we should look. What do you say Miss Jackson?" said James trying to stay focused on his job.

Augusta gently placed her hand on his forearm.

"Please...call me Augusta, you saved my life after all...and... we will be working together on this case right?"

She then timidly added.

" Could I call you...James?"

Our tough secret agent was suddenly touched by Augusta Jackson's charm. She seemed so unsure of herself and yet so brave to endure the pain from her wound.

James smiled and then just plainly said,

"No, Augusta, I don't mind."

For a moment there, James caught himself admiring the beautiful woman standing in front of him.

"A very pretty woman." he tough.

Augusta Jackson had long beautiful blond hair and full lips. Rather petite, she had a beautiful figure.

"Barely 23...I wonder if she's married? " he thought. James had been looking at her without saying a word for a few seconds now. Augusta suddenly broke the silence.

"So?" she said, suddenly bringing James out of his reverie " Shall we go?"

"Yes." replied James returning his attention to the present moment.

It wasn't like him to drift off like he just did.

" Tell me again where is Mr. Provosky's estate?"

"Not too far! It's in the next town, in Mount pleasant, about 45 minutes from here. We can take my buggy, if you don't mind."

"Perfect, let's go! We want to have time to talk with Provosky and see what he knows about this."

James then walked to the door and invited Augusta to follow him outside. Minutes later they were on their way to city of Mount Pleasant.

 **Meanwhile...while Artemus and Dorothy are on their way to Bronston...**

"Dorothy", asked Artemus, "Can you tell me more about your uncle?"

Dorothy Spencer started to play with her long necklace.

She sighed.

"What is there to say?"

Artie gave her a sideways look and found her annoyed by his question.

"When was the last time you had contact with him?"

"Like I told you...he has been missing for about a week now. George Spencer is a very hard man to reach. I am his favorite niece and even I have trouble reaching him! I write telegrams but he rarely takes the time to answer. I got alerted by his maid. She told me that he had left his house...but never arrived at his destination. His good friend, Brett Allen, sent a telegram to see why he had not arrived yet. That's all I know...really."

Dorothy Spencer barely had finish her phrase that Artemus suddenly felt the buggy make a strange noise and start rocking sideways.

By the time he looked on his side to see what was going on, the wheel of the buggy had broken and detached itself from the front axel, making the small buggy about to roll on its left.

Feeling like they were going to loose control, Dorothy Spencer screamed out of fear.

"What's happening Artemus?"

"Hold on!" shouted Artie as he leaned toward Dorothy and tried his best to stop the horse and keep balance at the same time.

Artemus pulled so hard on the reins that the poor horse had no choice but stop. Once immobilized, Artemus helped Dorothy off the buggy and followed her on the side of the road.

"What happened?" asked Dorothy, still troubled by what had just happened.

"The wheel came off. I don't know how this could have happened, let me go take a look."

Artemus then walked to the side of the buggy and took a look at the axel. It looked like it had been tempered with so the piece helping to secure the wheel in place would fall out eventually.

"Who would want us to have an accident..." thought Artie while examining the axel.

"So? What is it?" asked Dorothy, still on the other side of the buggy, trying to see Artemus's face. He voice was higher then usual.

"Did something break?"

Artemus hesitated for a second but opted not to tell the truth to Dorothy, not to stress her even more.

"Nothing...your wheel was old and it just broke off...it happens sometimes." said Artemus trying to hide his discovery. He was more then bothered by what had just happened.

"We really need to start figuring a way to go to Bronston before night time." he added while returning to the other side of the buggy.

Dorothy Spencer seemed really annoyed with the situation.

"Let's just go back to Grinsburgh. We can always return tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. I don't see how we will travel now! We'll have to walk back to town...I guess..."

Artemus passed his hand through his disheveled hair and looked on each side of the road to see if anyone was coming their way. No one was coming from either way.

"Go back?" said Artemus a little bit discouraged, still trying to see if someone would come their way.

He then paused for a second then added,

"No...we are about 45 minutes away from Bronston! I am not going back! We have a horse!..I can untie it and we can try and...ride it to town! It will be much faster then if we walk!"

"You want me to ride a horse?" asked Dorothy Spencer, horrified at the situation.

"Yes! It's easy, all you have to do is hold on to me! This horse seems pretty tamed anyways..."

Artemus was already untying the horse from the carriage.

"You cannot be serious!"

"Why, yes! It's the only way to town my dear...unless you really wanna to walk to town, with your beautiful brand new shoes." said Artemus while looking at Dorothy Spencer with an amused smile.

He then added while freeing the horse.

"We'll leave the buggy here and send someone from town to pick it up and bring it back to us. Simple as that!"

Dorothy seemed more and more annoyed by his plan.

Artemus had by now, climbed onto the horse.

He held out his hand toward her to help her on the horse.

"Come on Dorothy! You'll see, we'll be in town in minutes!"

Dorothy had no choice but to comply. After a few unsuccessful tries, she finally made it on the horse. Once in position, she held on to Artemus for dear life.

" I am not too found of those big fellows...are you sure he won't start kicking and jumping?" asked Dorothy unsure.

Artemus started to laugh.

"Of course not! He is an old horse who just wanna go home and rest...and we will do it slowly, but surely! Just hold on tight, that's all!"

Artie gently squeezed the horse with his heels and the old fellow started to walk slowly in a straight line down the road.

"See!" said Artie, " Easy as pie!Bronston, here we go!"

 **End of chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 **James, is this an incident...or this is planned?**

The little town of Mount Pleasant was clearly thriving. On their way in, James and Augusta saw young families picnicking in a little park near by. Young women were going in and out of little shops along the main route. The town had a beautiful center where a big building had the name Cromwell university on it. It was clearly a town of business and knowledge.

"This town is beautiful." said Augusta looking all around her, amazed by the beauty of it.

"You never visited?" asked James also appreciating the view.

"No...never...I did not visit any of my uncle's friends. He has so many! "

"I've never been to this town either." admitted James.

"It is, though, a very nice town. I bet Konstantinos Provosky comes here often to address the students and see their inventions..."

"Probably." replied Augusta, admiring the university's architecture.

"If my indications are right, you should turn right on the next street, Provosky's estate is a bit out of town since it has many acres of land, it's a very big mansion" said Augusta still enjoying the view.

Our duo soon found their way, further out of town. They were now on a little road that was supposed to lead to the estate. Minutes later, they finally arrived at a big cast iron gate, that was guarding another road that lead to the huge house. A man, clearly working for Provosky, was guarding the gate. The mansion seemed completely isolated, surrounded by a beautiful scenery of threes and flowers.

" Are you here for the convention?" asked the tall man.

"No, we're not. My name is James West, and this is Augusta Jackson. We would like to have a word with Mister Provosky, about the disappearance of his good friend, Professor Jackson."

Without any further words, James and Augusta were given permission to enter the estate. A long narrow road with high trees along each side, led the way to the house. As they approached the main residence, they soon realized that they were not the only ones visiting the estate. Men, were unloading their crates, with their inventions in it. The place was swarming with old, probably, chemists, scientists, professors, unloading their new inventions. Some of their gadgets were small, some very large. They were all hidden in boxes, of course! No one would want to show their inventions before the exposition! It almost felt like a circus. People were coming in and out of the large main residence.

James found a place to park the buggy, gently helped Augusta off of it and they both started to walk towards the beautiful two story brick house. An old professor, ,who had finished unpacking his invention, joined our couple as they walked to the front door. The old man had a small box in his hands and didn't say a word. As a matter of fact, he seemed to be pretty much in his own world, to say the least. James promptly knocked on the heavy wooden door. It opened immediately, as if someone was waiting right on the other side. A butler, dressed in black, with a long face welcomed then to the mansion.

"Welcome to the Provosky's estate." he said with a snobbish attitude.

He took 2 seconds to look at the James and his two companions.

"You can set up your table for your invention anywhere you wish to. Outside, in the gardens, inside, in any room you wish, except for the upstairs bedrooms. Mister Provosky wishes you a warm welcome and invites you to have a wonderful time during this convention. He will be on the premises very shortly and tell you the schedule of the day for tomorrow and the rest of the week."

The butler then stepped aside to let the little group in and closed the door right after.

The old professor didn't waste time and went straight for a spot in the corner of the living room.

As the butler slowly closed the big front door, James took this opportunity to ask him where he could find the owner of the estate, because he needed to have a word with him.

"It's a matter of great importance." he added.

The butler answered his question with his monotonous voice,

"He is in the gardens. You can go, you will probably find him there. He probably finished drinking his tea by now."

The butler pointed to a door that led to the back of the house.

"Through the kitchen then on to the solarium and out to the gardens" he said indicating the way.

James then invited Augusta to follow him. The place was crowded and swarming with men of science who were trying to find the perfect spot to display their new inventions. James and Augusta even had some trouble crossing the crowded hall. It felt like everyone wanted to be at the same place at the same time and that James and Augusta were always in the way. They bumped into people once or twice before finally crossing the hall.

The couple was about to disappear behind a door, when out of the corner of his eyes, James happened to see a quick flying object coming in their direction. Not wanting to take any chances, James followed his instincts and rapidly grabbed Augusta by the waist and brought her down to the floor with him, making sure she fell on him instead of the hard wood floor. Surprised by his action, she let out a very high pitch scream as she fell down on James, who absorbed most of the shock with his back.

Augusta Jackson found herself lying on top of James, inches from his face. She was still trapped in his arms.

"Why did you do that for?" she asked, feeling unladylike.

The couple was, by now, circled by some old men looking at them with curiosity.

"I'll help you up, and tell you all about it. Is your arm okay?" asked James as he looked at her with concern.

Augusta Jackson's face was a bit tensed.

"It's hurting a bit...but...I'm okay...what happened James?"

The agent gallantly help Augusta off of him, then got up from the floor to see what had just happened. He turned around to see what was the flying object he saw in the corner of his eye. James discovered in horror that an arrow had just missed them by inches and was now planted in the wood column behind them.

"What happened? Who did this?" asked James, looking at the old men standing around them, trying to find the person responsible for this accident.

"We don't know..." answered an old man.

"Nobody knows where that arrow is coming from?" reiterated James.

There was a short moment of silence.

"I think it comes from this place over there...look..there is a crossbow standing on that table over there!" said another man pointing at a small table across the room.

"Someone's invention didn't go as planned." said Augusta while James, dusted himself.

He then walked toward the little table where the crossbow was placed.

"Who is responsible for this table?" he asked looking at the group of old men who had followed him to the table.

The old men all looked at each other only to find out that they didn't know who was supposed to manage this invention.

"We don't know!" finally said a man wearing thick glasses.

"I don't recall seeing someone entering the place with that!" said another man from the back of the group.

James stood there and quickly looked around the room. These old men didn't see a thing! How could this be? The men shrugged their shoulders and since no one was coming up with an answer, slowly returned to what they were doing before. The place became noisy and busy again, just like nothing ever happened.

Augusta walked toward James with a worried look on her face.

"Have you seen this arrow! Nobody knows who was supposed to guard this thing?"

Augusta had a worried look on her face.

"You saved my life once again James! Is this an incident...or...was this planned?"

James tried his best to reassure Augusta with a calm tone of voice.

"I honestly don't know...but I will find out...you can be sure about that."

He then looked around the place one more time to see if he could not spot something different or someone acting weird. Nothing. The place was busy, as if nothing had happened, every men busy trying to get ready for the convention.

"I think we better have a chat with Konstantinos about this." said James inviting Augusta to walk with him.

They then left the hall, and went straight to the back of the house where the beautiful gardens were.

"I don't like this..." thought James, while walking and looking back.

 **Meanwhile in Bronston...**

It was late in the afternoon when Artemus and Dorothy Spencer arrived at Brett Allen's house in Bronston. Artemus had some problems with the horse who often stopped to eat some grass along the road. Their trip took longer then they thought.

"My legs hurt Artemus, I can't wait to get down from this stupid horse!" said Dorothy fed up with her long trip.

"I know Dorothy, but, we made it after all! See! Brett Allen's house is just a couple of feet away! Hang on, it'll just be a couple of minutes."

Artemus didn't want to admit it, but his legs were also very soar from the trip. The old horse was very large indeed and, they had been sitting on his back for many miles. It was not the most comfortable trip he wished for.

Once in front of the old house, Artemus slipped off the horse and helped Dorothy safely return to the ground. It felt good to be standing up again.

"I now smell like this old horse!" said Dorothy while rearranging her dress.

Artemus didn't dare reply to this one.

They both stepped up to the balcony. Artemus knocked a first time; no one answered.

" Are you sure Allen is here?" asked Artie.

Dorothy hesitated a second.

"Yes...he should be here! Knock again!

Artemus knocked again, this time much louder.

Seconds later, a maid opened the old squeaky door.

"Hello, my name is Artemus Gordon and this is Dorothy Spencer, could we please have a word with Mister Brett Allen?"

End of chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 **Things are gettting serious**

"Hello, my name is Artemus Gordon and this is Dorothy Spencer, could we please have a word with Mister Brett Allen?"

The old maid looked at Artemus with a strange expression on her face.

"You want to talk to the old man?" she said with a thick southern accent.

She hesitated a bit then added,

"Okay, come on in...I'll go see if he's still in his den...and not sleeping."

Artemus and Dorothy were left alone to themselves while the old maid disappeared in a corridor that lead to the back of the house.

They waited in the entry way that was decorated with dark wood furniture and old paintings.

They heard muffled voices; the maid's voice then the voice of an older men, who seemed very grumpy.

Seconds later, the old woman reappeared and told them to follow her to the den. Mister Allen was waiting for them.

For some unknown reasons, Artemus felt that Dorothy looked a bit tensed but didn't have the time to address the issue, the maid started to talk to her visitors while leading the way to the den.

"My name is Edna, I have been with Mister Allen for 2 months now. What's the reason of your visit ?" she asked blatantly.

"Miss Spencer and I wish to talk to Mister Allen about his good friend, George Spencer." answered politely Artemus while following her.

"I think he mentioned the fact that his good friend was supposed to visit him...to paint his niece...but...something happened?" Edna had by now arrived at the den. She knocked on a heavy wooden door.

"Your visitors are here Mister Allen."

"Come in." said a croaky voice from the other side of the door.

Artemus and his companion walked in a beautiful den. Brett Allen was sitting down in a wheelchair behind a mahogany desk. He stayed behind his desk as his visitors entered the room.

The old man seemed half blind and in a very bad shape, he even looked frail.

Artemus started to make the presentation.

"Mister Allen, my name is Artemus Gordon, and this is Dorothy Spencer, Georges Spencer's niece. "

Artemus could not finish his phrase, the old men quickly interrupted him.

"Dorothy? Is that you?" he said, trying to recognize her, squinting his eyes.

"Come closer, it's been such a long time!"

Dorothy hesitated for a seconds then approached the desk.

"Hello Mister Allen, yes...it's me, Dorothy."

Once near the desk, Dorothy stopped and stood near the window so Brett Allen could see her in the light of day. The den was after all very dark.

"Dorothy?" said Brett Allen, not sure.

"Yes, it's me."

The old men looked at her and grimaced.

"You're not my Dorothy!"

The young woman turned around and looked at Artemus with a worried look on her face. Artemus stayed there in silence not knowing what to do.

She then turned to look at the old man again.

"Yes...It's me...Dorothy Spencer! May be I changed a bit since the last time we saw each other?" said Dorothy with a higher tone of voice then usual.

Edna who was still in the room, stepped in the conversation.

"Brett, come on, you know your eyes are falling you! You're just an old man."

The maid approached the desk and took the old man's glasses right off his face and started to clean them."

"Your glasses must be dirty...that's why!"

Allen didn't seem to like his new maid at all.

"Argh...don't break my glasses!"

"I won't break them, you old fool." answered the maid while cleaning the glasses with the edge of her apron.

The two of them looked like an old couple arguing, who had been living together for years.

"Mister Allen has some trouble with his vision, this is why he is having a hard time recognizing you." said the maid while giving his glasses back to the old man.

"It's also been ages since we've seen each other." added Dorothy, still standing near the window.

"I'm not the little girl you once knew, Mister Allen. I changed my hairstyle...may be that's it?"

The old man looked at her again and, didn't seemed convinced.

"Hum...I don't know...you changed Dorothy. Where the hell is your uncle?" he suddenly asked, suddenly hitting his fist on the table.

"Mister Allen...if I may." intervened Artemus, walking up to the man.

"Who are you?" asked the man, not sure of remembering Artie's name.

"The name is Gordon, Artemus Gordon, sir. I work for the government, but Miss Spencer asked me to help her find her uncle, George Spencer, your good friend."

"That son of a bitch!" replied Allen.

Artemus approached the desk.

"I understand that you must be very angry..."

Brett Allen interrupted Artemus.

"You can be sure I am! My nice was here for 7 days, and this was my last chance to have a portrait of her before she left for a little town called Saint-Ignace somewhere up north!

"About that..." started Artemus.

" I am investigating his disappearance and I would like to ask you a couple of questions...but first...do you know where I could pay someone to bring our buggy back? We had a little accident and we had to leave it on the road a couple of miles from here. If we want to get back to Grinsburgh tonight, we better take care of this situation as soon as possible..."

The old man started to laugh.

"Edna, go in town and ask Ed to take care of this." said the old man almost shouting.

"You want me to go to town?"

"Yes! Don't stand there like you don't know where the town is! Tell Ed that their buggy is on the side of the main road a couple of miles from here."

Edna turned her heels around and left without any words.

"Sit, you too! " then ordered Allen, still his a gravelly voice.

Dorothy and Artemus obligated and sat in the big leather chairs that were in front of his desks.

The old men went on and on about his favorite niece and how he was sadden that his old friend didn't even show up to paint her portrait.

Artemus questioned the old man on his friend and tried to know more about his disappearance.

It was hard to have a productive conversation with Brett Allen. His attention spans was very short. The man kept talking about his favorite niece and how sad he was that he could not have her portrait to hang in his office. Artemus asked him if he knew where his good friend George Spencer was, if he had ideas of his whereabouts...still...the old man sounded like a broken record.

Between Artemus's questions and Allen's grumpy attitude, Artemus wasn't getting anywhere. Then, about 5:00 pm in the afternoon, Edna reappeared in the den with news from town. Ed would get the buggy back but could not repair it until de next day, after lunch.

"But what are we going to do?" asked Dorothy, a bit worried.

"I have two extra rooms, you will stay for the night." said the old man, suddenly clearer then all afternoon.

"We could not impose, sir." started to say Artemus.

"Nonsense! replied Brett Allen with his usual grumpy attitude. He looked at his old maid and ordered her to take care of Dorothy Spencer. " Edna! Bring Dorothy up to her room. May be she will rest a bit before dinner time. Try and find her a nightgown for tonight. Mister Gordon and I will have a little talk."

Artemus looked at the man and suddenly felt like he was in front of a completely different man.

Once Dorothy Spencer out of the room, Brett Allen seemed more relaxed and focused.

"I know Ed, he will do a good job on your buggy, but he needs to work on it. You will be ready to leave tomorrow after lunch."

"Thank you for your hospitality sir, Dorothy didn't enjoy our little horse ride...I must admit that it was not a pleasant ride either.

"What happened? Your buggy's wheel broke off?" asked Allen, still with a very clear mind.

Artemus hesitated a bit but told Allen the truth.

"It broke off, yes...but it was tempered with. Someone wanted us to have an accident. I didn't mention anything to Miss Spencer, she is anxious enough as it is about her uncle..."

Artemus waited to see the old man's response.

"Someone caused you to have an accident? "

Allen's eyes focused on Artemus.

"Lord knows how many enemies I have! Do you have enemies Mister Gordon?"

Artemus listened to his host and wondered how he could have been so vague earlier and now so focused.

" I hope not, sir...I hope not."

Artemus hesitated, but dared to ask again about George Spencer.

"Sir...I was wondering if George Spencer sent you a letter prior to coming here...or may be telling you he was not able to come..."

Artemus had not yet finished his phrase, Allen interrupted him again.

" He did send me a letter! He wrote me! Wait! I will see if I can find it."

Brett Allen searched in his big wooden desk. It took him almost 5 minutes to find the letter, but he found it! As he was about to give Artemus the precious letter, the door of his den suddenly opened.

"Mister Allen...dinner will soon be served. May be Mister Gordon would like to rest a bit, or clean up a bit before we eat?"

Artemus turned around to look at the maid, not before noticing that the old man was hiding the letter under his desk, on his knees.

"Will you leave us alone you old witch! We will eat when we're ready and not before!" he said striking his desk with his fist.

Edna gave Brett Allen one of those exasperated looks and exited the den.

"That old woman is a pain in the ass!"

Artemus didn't say a word, because he didn't know exactly what to say or do. He didn't want to fuel the old man by saying something wrong. There was an awkward silence for about 2 minutes, then, Brett Allen seemed to suddenly remember he had a letter to give Artemus.

"Oh! Here is the letter he gave me, he does not say much though."

Artemus took the letter and read it out loud.

" My good friend Brett, something came up, of great importance, and I will not be able to join you to paint your niece's portrait. Please forgive me, I wish I could have gone. Take good care of yourself my old friend. Signed, George Spencer."

Artemus looked at the letter to try and find something different, or to find a clue.

"Could I keep this letter sir, I wish to examine it more closely, if I may..."

"Yeah yeah...keep the darn letter, I am so mad at Spencer right now!"

The man left his desk and approached Artemus.

"That woman...Dorothy Spencer was more kind to me...then this witch! I don't like her!"

"You really don't recognize her?" asked Artemus worried he might not be with the right woman.

"Let's go eat!" then suddenly said the man, not answering Artemus's question.

Both men exited the room and went to the large dinning room at the back of the house. There, Dorothy Spencer was seated at the table, playing with her fork, waiting for the men to arrive. She seemed bored.

Artemus noticed the presence of a younger woman, who seemed to be the cook of the house. She was a beautiful petite woman with brown hair. She easily could have passed for Dorothy Spencer's younger sister.

Artemus was more then surprised when Brett Allen started acting all lost again. He kept asking his name, and saying the same old story about how he was mad at George Spencer for not painting the portrait of his niece.

"Is he playing a role?" thought Artemus really surprised by how much Brett Allen"s attitude had changed from earlier in his den.

After repeating his name for the fourth time, Edna, who was bringing the dinner plates, bent over a bit while giving Artemus his dinner and told him discretely that Allen had his good days and his bad days. It seemed the man was suffering for some sort of dementia where he would often forget people of places and repeat himself endlessly.

"That would explain why he was so different earlier..." though Artemus while taking his plate.

The rest of the evening went rather well. Edna was often answering questions for Brett Allen, since he was too busy trying to eat his food. Artemus knew James would wait for him at the train, so he walked in town, right after dinner to send him a telegram, so he would not worry.

Once back in his room, later that night, he could finally put his feet up and relax a bit. This day didn't turn out like he hoped for.

 **Meanwhile in Mount Pleasant...**

Augusta Jackson and James had finally crossed the big house and were now in the beautiful gardens. The yard of the estate was huge and filled with apple trees and flowers.

They had barely arrived when they saw Provosky, standing beside a beautiful table with flowers and pots on it, turning his back to them, reading a letter he had probably just opened. He seemed very concentrated by his reading and did not ear them arriving.

James started to speak to announce their presence.

"Sir...my name is James..."

James could not finish his sentence. The owner of the estate, suddenly dropped to the ground, with the letter he was holding. Some sort of strange smoke started coming out of it and started to burn. Not knowing what was happening, James hurried on the scene to stop the letter from burning further by stepping on it.

"Stay back Augusta! Don't take any chances!"

Without any further explanations, a very scared Augusta hurried back into the house.

James placed his jacket in front of his mouth to protect himself from what seemed to be some sort of mortal gas, or poison, he didn't really know. He then looked at the man lying on the ground and quickly checked his pulse; nothing, the man was dead!

He stood up again, quickly found a flower pot and placed it over the letter and envelop that were on the ground.

James then looked at Provosky's body with a worried look on his face.

"What the hell is happening..." thought James trying to understand the events of the day.

He quickly took a look around him to see if the person who did this was around, but could see no one.

He approach the gardening wooden table that had some pots and flowers on it, took an old cloth that was left there and placed it in front of his face. He had to look at the letter and the envelop to see if it had any traces of poison or some other substance.

He then approached the flower pot that covered the letter and kicked it with his feet. The letter half burnt was no longer burning. James picked it up with a small pair of clamp he had in his left pocket and picked up the letter to look at it.

"What the hell was that poison?Artie will have to take a look at this..."

James, then placed the letter on the wooden table and ran back inside the house.

There, he found the butler, told him what had just happened, told the butler to get the authorities, and asked him if Provosky had an empty briefcase he could borrow.

The next events unfolded quickly.

James placed the letter and envelop in a small briefcase, to make sure there was no more gas coming from it. With the help of an employee of the house, he then picked up Provosky's body and placed it in the garden shed, to make sure he was not contagious for the others in the house. The police came, the guests of the house were questioned, and Provosky's body was then examined by some scientists that were volunteering to look at the body. It turned out, that he was not contagious. His employees and butler arranged for his body to be brought to the morgue downtown. The convention was closed and all the men that were at the house, started to pack their belongings and left for the town, trying to find some place to stay until further notice. People were in shock as they left the estate.

Augusta Jackson was still in the kitchen, looking out the window where Provosky had just collapsed hours before.

Amidst all of the chaos of the house, James finally took time to comfort her and see how she was doing.

"Are you okay?" he said while approaching her.

Augusta Jackson had no expressions on her face.

"I..."

James waited but, Augusta didn't finish her sentence.

"I know...it's a lot to take in for one day, right?"

Augusta suddenly felt a shiver go through her body.

"You must be tired. Is your arm okay?" asked James, while taking out his vest and placing it on her shoulders.

" It's hurting, I must admit." Augusta had her hand on her arm as to protect it.

"James...what happened today? What does that mean? Is someone trying to kill us? Why did Provosky died? Is this related to my uncle?"

So many questions, so many answers!

James sighed, he didn't know either what it all meant but there was no way, the story would end there; someone tried to kill them, and now Provosky was now dead. He had to find the link between those events.

"It would seem like someone didn't want us to talk to Provosky. The arrow missed but the letter worked. I will have Artie look at it tomorrow."

"James...I'm scared!"

"I understand Augusta. We won't have a choice but to stay here for the night, it's already passed 7 o'clock and, the police still want to talk with me, and, you must be very tired, so I have arranged a room for you, upstairs. We will eat here, and stay here for the night and go back to Grinsburgh tomorrow. Artie needs to take a look at that letter...it had some sort of a mortal poison on it..."

Augusta Jackson wasn't thrilled at the ideas of staying in that mansion but she was so tired and famished, that she agreed.

 **Later on that night in Bronston**

It was about 12:30 in the morning when Artemus suddenly awoken by a scream of terror. He sat straight in his bed, and since he was sleeping in in clothes, jumped right out of bed and followed the scream straight to Brett Allen's room.

"What's happening?" he asked in a panic.

Artemus stepped in the bedroom where Edna was standing at the foot of Allen's bed, one hand covering her mouth in horror and the other one pointing at Brett Allen's body.

"What's wrong Edna?" asked Artemus, looking at her, still half a sleep.

"Mister Allen..Mister Allen is...dead!"

End of chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 Finding clues**

It was about 12:30 in the morning when Artemus suddenly awoken by a scream of terror. He sat straight in his bed, and since he was sleeping in in clothes, jumped out of bed and followed the scream straight to Brett Allen's room.

"What's happening?"

Artemus stepped in the bedroom where Edna was standing at the foot of Allen's bed, both her hands hiding her face.

"What's wrong Edna?" asked Artemus, looking at her, still half a sleep.

"Mister Allen..Mister Allen is...dead!"

Artemus looked at the old man who seemed to be sleeping in his huge bed.

"What?" said Artemus while trying to gather his thoughts.

"I...I went to bring him his late night tea...and...I found him dead!" she said while pointing at the old man.

"All right..calm down...calm down Edna...let me take a look at him."

Artemus slowly approached the bed and tried to wake Allen up, but nothing happened.

He then check to feel a pulse on his neck and realized that the man was indeed, dead, very dead.

As Artemus slowly backed away from the bed, Dorothy Spencer suddenly appeared on the threshold of the door.

"What happened?" she asked with a worried look.

Artemus looked at her and tried to tell her the news with a very calm tone of voice.

"Mister Allen has...left us. He died and Edna just discovered him."

Dorothy Spencer covered her face with horror.

"Oh no!"

Edna started to cry.

"He was an old grumpy man, he could be mean at times...but...deep down I know he really appreciated me! What are we going to do?"

Artemus scratched the back of his head trying to think clearly.

"Let me think..."

Both women awaited for his decision in silence.

"I guess we'll keep him in his bed...until tomorrow and...I'll go to town and ask the doctor to come and take a look at him. Then I guess we'll have to transfer his body to the morgue downtown."

He looked at both women who were in total shock.

"There's not more we can do about it tonight..."

Both women agreed in silence and exited the room. Edna, still sobbing, proposed to make some tea, to help calm them a bit.

Both women headed towards the stairs.

"Are you coming Artemus?" asked Dorothy.

Artemus hesitated a bit then said,

"Yes...just give me a minute here, I'll be downstairs soon."

If there was one thing, in all his years as an agent, those events had taught him, it was to take a closer look at the scene. Did Allen died of natural causes? Did something else happen?

Artemus was more then curious to take a closer look at the old man. He seemed too peaceful in his bed! It was as if he had laid and not move an inch!

Artemus approached the bed and just stood there, looking at the old man, examining him.

Something was bothering him; his bed covers were covering the old man as if someone had put him to bed. His arms were under covers, all nicely tucked away. Heck his hair even seemed coiffed.

"Did Edna put him to bed?" thought Artemus while pulling the covers down to look at his arms. The bed had a too much perfect look.

He slowly approached Brett Allen's face and looked at him for a few seconds... nothing got his attention. There was nothing out of the ordinary about Brett Allen's face. He then looked at his arms, and hands, that were perfectly residing along his torso, and there, something caught his attention; his right hand was clinched holding something.

Artemus gently took the old man's hand and brought it closer to him to examine it; fine strands of brown hair were clutched in his right hand, quite a lot of it actually.

" What have we got here? Brown hair?"

Artemus took the strands out of the hand and looked at them more closely.

"So..." he thought while examining the hair, " Did you have a fight with a person with brown hair, before going to bed?" thought Artie, suspicious.

His discovery scared him a bit, this meant that the old man didn't die of natural causes, but was clearly murdered...by someone with brown hair. Dorothy Spencer had Brown hair, but so did the woman who cooked dinner for them.

"This is starting to be interesting..." thought Artemus while replacing the covers on Brett Allen's body.

 **The next day...**

Artemus and Dorothy left Brett Allen's house after a series of question form the sheriff of the little town. They spent all morning answering questions and assuring the authorities that Allen had died of natural causes. Artemus wasn't about to tell them that Spencer was in fact a suspect in his eyes. He would wait before jumping to conclusions.

It was around 3 o'clock when Artemus and Dorothy Spencer finally arrived in Grinsburgh. They went straight to her hotel. Dorothy insisted on going with Artemus to the train, but, Artemus somehow didn't want her there when he would talk with Jim about his weird encounter with Brett was a lot he wanted to share with him, especially about the fact that he didn't trust her very much after the events that occurred at Allen's residence.

James, and Augustine Jackson arrived at the train just a few minutes after Artemus had arrived, he was still in the main living room.

As soon as James entered the train Artemus welcomed him with his pressing issues.

"James! You will never know what happened at Brett Allen's house!"

Noticing that Augusta was accompanying James he then saluted her.

"Oh, Hello Miss Jackson, I am truly sorry for being a bit rude today, and not greeting you...it's just that...well..."

Artie hesitated a bit.

James took off his hat and invited Augusta to sit down and placed the briefcase he was carrying beside the little chair.

"Go on Artie, I know you're dying to tell me something here." said James, knowing that his partner had big news to share with him.

Artemus looked like a young child exited to open his Christmas gift. He couldn't wait to tell James about his weird encounter with Allen.

"You will never know what happened to Dorothy and me while we were at Brett Allen's house! He died while we were there!"

James turned his head to look at Augustine's reaction.

"Well...Artie...I think we can match your story!" said James while sitting down beside Augustine.

Artemus, who was pacing in front of them, stoped dead in his track and looked at them with curiosity.

"What? Did...is Provosky dead?" asked Artemus with a strange expression on his face.

"Not only is he dead..." answered James while rubbing the back of his neck " but someone tried to kill us also!"

Artemus sat in the seat in front of them, speechless.

"I'm telling you Artie, this story is more complexed then we thought." said James with a very serious look on his face.

Artemus, who was also very serious, shook his head from side to side and with James blessings, continued his own story.

"Brett Allen didn't seem to recognize Dorothy Spencer, he was acting all weird at times, and was very clear of mind at other times! We had to sleep at his home because on our way to Bronston, someone tempered with our buggy and one wheel came off almost killing us!"

"Someone tried to kill you too?" asked Augustine Jackson.

"Yes my dear! And while we were all sleeping, I heard a scream and went to Allen's room only to realize that he was dead." Artemus paused for a second then added "I examined the body and found that he probably fought with a woman who had brown hair...I found strands of brown hair in his hand...and the worst thing is...that Dorothy Spencer has brown hair but there was also a young maid there that cooked us dinner and she also had brown hair..."

James and Augustine were fascinated but Artemus's story.

"So...you are saying that someone killed the old man...and that Dorothy Spencer is a suspect?"

"James my boy...I don't even know if she is who she says she is!"

The trio all looked at each other in silence.

"What about you? You say that someone tried to kill you both?" asked Artemus, curious to learn more about what had happened.

"Yes...an arrow missed us by this much..." said James while showing Artemus the distance with his thumb and index.

"I had to take Augustine with me and throw ourselves on the ground. The funny thing is...that the room was filled with old men who must have seen something...but no one saw anything! And when we arrived in the garden, Provosky was reading a letter he had just received and it somehow killed him!"

Artemus suddenly stood up from his chair.

"What does that mean James?"

James slowly got up and took the briefcase he had carried in with him.

"We will probably find answers here, I brought back the letter that killed Provosky. I want you to analyze the poison, or gas that killed him...and at the same time we'll be able to read what it said...well...part of it...because it somehow combusted."

Artemus quickly took the briefcase out of James's hand.

"We can't open this here, there might still be some form of poison or gas!"

James placed both hands on his waist.

"I know Artie! That's why I placed it in there, so it would be safe until you check it out!"

Artemus didn't say a word but agreed with what James did to seal the letter.

"Speaking of letter, I also have something we could look at! Allen received a letter from George Spencer, telling him how sorry he was not being able to come paint his niece's portrait."

"Can we see it? Or is it poisonous?" asked James, not trusting any form of paper since the last one had killed a man.

Artemus took the letter out of his vest.

"No it's not poisonous. Here is it!"

Curious, Augustine stood up, and went beside James as he read the letter.

It took 5 seconds for her face expression to change.

"But...but...it's not George Spencer's writing! This person's writing is the very same then my uncle! Look!" she said, pointing at an F, "My uncle always writes them in a very artistic ways! I could swear, that this is my uncle's hand writing! No one writes their f like my uncle does! I could who's you letters I have from him, and you would agree with me!"

James and Artemus looked at each other not knowing exactly what to think.

"Are you sure Augustine?" asked James giving her the letter so she could look at it more closely.

It took her only a few seconds for Augustine to be 100% positive about her statement.

"Oh my gosh! It is my uncle's writing! She started to get emotional.

"Why would he be impersonating George Spencer?"

Augustine looked at our two secret agents with the hope that they would give her an answer.

"We don't know...these events are getting more and more bizarre. If you are truly sure that your uncle wrote this letter..then...this means that..."

Artemus and James exchanged a look that said it all; they both came to the same conclusion.

"May be George Spencer wrote the other letter?"

Artemus grabbed the briefcase, more then determined to go in his special room at the back of the train to examine the letter more closely.

"We will know more in a couple of minutes!" He said ready to disappear in his lab.

"Wait!" said James, while picking the letter out of Augustine's hands.

"Have you seen this? he said, while giving the letter back to Artemus.

"What is it?" asked Artemus, looking at the letter, not sure of what he meant.

James took back the letter from Artie, went to the small working desk and took a pencil. He then softly rubbed the pencil over the bottom of the letter, to see the indented writing it had on it.

Artemus went to take a closer look at Jim's discovery.

" Bring...him to the..."

James hesitated a bit then continued.

"To the gallery...Baxter."

Artemus was more then proud of his partner, they had just found a very important clue.

"Oh, Jim my boy, as my aunt Maud would say, you are more clever and wiser then and hungry raccoon who wants food! I didn't even see the indented writing! Great job!"

"Thanks partner...but...what gallery where do we search?"

Augustine Jackson placed her hand on Jim's arm then politely said,

"Could it be the galley that belongs to Mike Baxter? A very rich man who owns galleries and homes and businesses. I read an article somewhere about that man...I think his gallery is in...Dorchester..."

Artemus scratched the side of his head then seemed to know who Augustine Jackson was talking about.

"Yes! I believe I do recall I read the same article!"

Our trio quickly found other very interesting clues concerning the disappearance of the two uncles.

 **Moments later...**

Artemus examined the other letter, and he discovered that the paper was covered with a very rare poisonous texture found in South America. He also found some sort of a powder that quickly burned when exposed to the sun, luckily the letter had not totally burned and this is how Augustine Jackson, recognized her uncle's writing. It would seem that he had wrote the 2 letters. What it meant; they had no idea.

James went back to town with Augustine. It was a very long day but she felt enthusiast about the clues they had just found.

Artemus and Jim planned to go visit the gallery in Dorchester and bring Dorothy Spencer with them, to see how she would react to certain events. They still needed to decide if she really was, Dorothy Spencer.

They didn't know what they were going to find, but were more then happy to have a lead.

End of chapter 7


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

It was early in the morning when Artemus picked up Dorothy Spencer at her hotel. The sun was out and he could feel it was going to be a very warm day. As usual, Artemus was greeted by a Dorothy Spencer who was not yet ready, who did her little number while dressing up and asking Artemus to help her finish the job. As a gentleman, Artemus obliged but stayed very professional in helping her with her dress.

As they soon left the hotel to go in the direction of Dorchester, Artemus, not wanting to have another incident, decided to take his own buggy and pay a kid to watch it while he was upstairs with Dorothy. Better safe then sorry!

James and him, agreed that the missing uncles was just the first layer of this whole story. There was more to it and they intended to discover more by going to the gallery. While Artemus would be visiting the inside, James would try to go in the basement to see if he could find something.

As they were on their way to the small town of Dorchester, Artemus answered Dorothy's pressing questions. He made sure, though, not to tell her too much, because she still was a suspect in his eyes. Artemus even tried to see if her hair had something different, but could not because Dorothy Spencer decided to wear a little flower bonnet even though it was going to be pretty warm out. That added to Artemus's suspicion.

Dorchester was a beautiful little town where, apparently, most of the businesses there, belonged to that Baxter persona. Baxter's bar, Baxter's hotel, Baxter's restaurant, not to forget the art gallery right in the middle of the town. Baxter was, it seemed a very important man in this place.

It didn't take long before Artemus and Dorothy arrived in front of the gallery. Before they even stepped out of the buggy, Artemus told Dorothy that they just needed to act as if they were a couple trying to buy a painting. Nothing more. It was just part of the investigation.

Dorothy was more then whiling to act the part of being his wife.

Upon entering the gallery, Artemus and Dorothy were greeted by a very stern man, who seemed to be the only employee present at the time.

"Hello, welcome to the Baxter Gallery. Can I help you with anything? Are you looking for something specific?"

Artemus answered politely, while taking a quick look around the place.

"Hello, my name is Artie Johnson and this is my wife Louise, we are looking for a painting to decorate our living rooms."

Artemus looked at Dorothy to see if she was going with the new name approach. She was all smiles.

"Yes, our living rooms lacks a certain je- ne- sais -quoi...and we would like to find the perfect painting for it."

The employee walked out of behind his little desk and joined the couple.

"I see...my best advice would be for you to look at some of those wonderful paintings, and may be you will have a favorite one that will speak to you..."

Artemus politely agreed and started to walk arm in arm with Dorothy by his side. There were lovely paintings there, but, 2 of them caught Dorothy's eye.

She discreetly told Artemus that those paintings reminded her of her uncle's paintings. The stokes, the colors, the theme, resembled very much his uncle's creations.

"Are you sure?" asked Artemus almost whispering.

"They sure do look like my uncle painted those! May be Baxter bought my uncle's painting?" answered Dorothy softly speaking in Artemus's ear.

Artemus nodded his head and turned around to see the employee who had returned to his desk.

"Sir, could we ask you some questions about those 2 paintings?"

The employee got up and approached the couple.

"Yes, what can I do for you?"

"We are interested in those two paintings on the wall."

Artemus pointed at the two creations representing farm scenes.

"Could you tell us a bit more about those?

The employee took a closer look at the two paintings and looked at the signature.

"Can you tell us who painted those paintings?" asked Artemus.

"Yes, a gentleman by the name of Stephen Pirelli painted those. He is a young painter that was discovered by Mister Baxter."

Artemus bended a bit to look more closely at the paintings. They both represented farms scenes and, the more Artemus examined the paintings, the more something caught his eyes. The barbwire were painted in a funny way, but he could not tell exactly what it was that was bugging him.

"A young painter, you say?"

"Yes." replied the employee.

A door at the back of the room suddenly opened, revealing an older, distinguished man accompanied with a younger man in his 20's.

"I see that you are impressed by our new artist painter?" said the man, approaching Artemus.

Artie hesitated a bit but answered politely.

"Yes, the stokes, the colors, my wife and I are in awe of the person who painted this."

The older man extended his hand to Artemus.

"The name is Baxter, Tim Baxter. I am the owner of this gallery and..well..most of the establishments in this town."

Artemus shook his hand.

" Artie Johnson and this is my wife Louise."

"Please to meet you." said Baxter while shaking Dorothy's hand. He then placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder and presented him to Artemus and Dorothy.

"This is the young man who painted the paintings you are interested in. I discovered him not long ago, in San Francisco. I was amazed by his talent and, well, bought some of his paintings and intend to buy the others he will paint in the future. This is Stephan Pirelli."

The young man smiled politely while shaking Artemus and Dorothy's hand.

"Nice to me you."

"How can such a young man have such a good technic?" thought Artemus while examining Stephan's gestures and young painter had very big hands with blisters.

"So, you are the next painting sensation? Where did you study to have such a perfect technic? Have you been painting for long?" asked Artemus trying to know more about the young man.

Baxter didn't let him answer much questions, he quickly took over the conversation.

"Stephen is pretty shy, you know how artists are! He is a natural! Didn't took any classes, and he painted since a very early age! Right Stephan?"

The young artist just nodded is head.

It felt as if Baxter was trying to hide his pupil and stop him from talking too much.

"I see...a natural." said Artemus, looking once again at both of the paintings.

"I'll tell you what!" said Artemus after a few seconds, " We will take both paintings, because, I can't decided between the two of them and I am sure my wife Louise will find the perfect places in our house to hang them up."

Dorothy smiled and played the role of a very happy wife.

"You are such a dear, darling. Thank you for this wonderful gift."

Baxter didn't want to show it, but was impressed by Artemus's decision to buy the two paintings on the spot. They were, after all pretty expensive.

"You are a man who doesn't take long to take a decision, Mister Johnson!"

"I buy what intrigues and fascinates me." just replied Artemus while getting his money out of his inside pocket.

Stephan Pirelli's expression surprised Artemus. The young artist didn't even seem happy that two of his paintings got sold this quickly.

"Tell me, mister Pirelli, out of curiosity, why do you paint farm scenes? " said Artemus while admiring the paintings, "Were you born on a farm? Or do you have childhood memories of farm life?"

"No...I was raised in the city."

His answer got Artemus even more suspicious of the young painter and his capacities of painting such beautiful scenes.

"I see...I see."

Artemus then quickly paid for the 2 paintings while the employee wrapped them in a large brown paper for the travel. He offered to have the paintings shipped to his house, but Artemus knew he had to get out of there with the paintings, so he could examine them closer tonight.

With Dorothy on his side and two paintings in his small buggy, Artie left the gallery, under the watchful eyes of Baxter and his employee.

 **Later on back at the train**...

Dorothy Spencer was back at her hotel, and Artemus back at the train with the two paintings. He had just finished unwrapping them, when Jim opened the door with a frustrated look on his face.

"This place is guarded like a fortress!"

Artemus was more then curious to know how his attempt to enter the basement of the galley went.

"No luck?"

"That Baxter guy has like 20 guys coming in and out of the place! There was no way I could have entered it in broad day light! It's like he has something hidden down there and he doesn't want no one to find out what it is!"

Jim placed his hand on his waist and shook his head in disbelief.

Seeing that Artie bought 2 paintings, got his attention.

"What about you? I see you bought some paintings? For the train? Is this related to the case?"

"Of course it is, Jim! You see...when I went inside the gallery with Dorothy, she saw those two paintings and told me that she was convinced her uncle painted them.I was asking about the paintings when...out of the blue, Baxter, the owner of the gallery, came out of a room at the back and presented this young man...Stephan Pirelli, as the young painter who realized the paintings."

Jim had no clue where this was going.

"And?"

"Well...you see Jim. The guy had as much class as a dock worker. His hand shake felt more like rough then delicate, not like the distinguished artistic ones of painters with delicate hands. I tried asking him questions about his technic, and studies but Baxter kept taking control of the conversation. Dorothy is 100% sure that those paintings were done by her uncle...and yet, this is not what Tim Baxter tells us...but you see Jim...my guts tells me that there's something going on with those paintings...something is bugging my eyes..."

Jim was still clueless.

" What do you mean?"

Artemus went to the small desk to get a magnifying glass.

"There's just something bothering my eyes...the barbwire...in the paintings...it's painted funny..."

Jim joined his partner who was now looking at the paintings with the magnifying glass.

"Everything seems in order when I look at the strokes, and the colors...but when I look at the barb wire..."

Artemus bent down to look closely at the one of the painting. He then suddenly stopped breathing.

"Well...I'll be darn!"

Artemus stepped back from the painting.

"What? What is it Artie?" asked Jim, then looking closely at the painting.

Artemus took his magnifying glass and looked at the painting again, as if wanting to be sure of what he saw.

"I'll be darn!" He repeated.

"What?" asked Jim, getting impatient.

Artie gave him the glass and told him to look at the way the barb wire were painted.

" Someone is trying to send us a message!"

Jim took the magnifying glass and bent until he was very close to the painting. He stood there for about 2 minutes.

"Look at the barb wire Jim...isn't there something wrong with it? Look at how it is painted...twisted to form..."

"Words!"

Jim stood up straight and looked at his partner with a weird expression on his face.

"Did I see right? "

He then bent down again, his nose glued to the painting and read the words out loud.

"Stuck in basement Baxter Gallery. Help. G. Spencer."

"I knew it!" said Artemus while looking at the painting himself! George Spencer is trapped in the basement of Baxter's gallery! What an ingenious way to call for help! I'd bet 100$ that Henry Jackson is with him!"

Jim shook his head for side to side, still not quite believing what he saw.

"So...Baxter tried to make you think that his young pupil was the artist who painted those paintings...but the truth is that Spencer is the one who really painted those paintings and Baxter is selling his paintings for money. Why is he doing that? And why is Henry Jackson with him?"

"We are not sure of that fact Jim...but...there's only one way to know...and it is to go back there and find a way in! You have no choice Jim."

"I guess I'll try to go back later tonight, things might be more quiet."

"I think it's the best we can do, Jim."

Jim agreed but something else was bothering him.

"Artie...something is bothering me...why did Dorothy Spencer helped you out with this one? I mean...she told you that those paintings were her uncle...and yet...she still might be a suspect in the murder of Brett Allen! This doesn't add up!"

Artemus scratched the back of his head, hoping to have the answer to that question, but he was simply clueless.

"I truly don't know Jim. I tried today to look at her hair...you know, to see if she would have a patch of hair missing, but, today, on all day, she decided to wear a bonnet! I am even more suspicious of her...and yet...there she goes helping me find out about her uncle paintings...I don't know what to think Jim...I really don't know..."

After a few seconds of deep silence, and profound reflection, both men agreed on the plans for the night. Jim would return to the little town, and would try to get in the basement while Artemus would invite the women for dinner. He needed to talk to them, and observe them, to try and see if one of them was an accomplice, or not.

The evening would have other surprises in store for them...

End of chapter 8


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

She said...she said!

"I wish you would have told me that Augusta was also joining us..."

Artie was standing in the doorway of Dorothy Spencer's bedroom. Dorothy didn't seem to approve Artemus's choice for a third guest at their table.

"Since Jim is on a...special mission, I thought it would be nice to be just the three of us, and discuss what we have found out...so far about your missing uncles."

Dorothy, approached Artemus and asked him to attach her pearl necklace.

"I see...I don't mind Augustine well...I do...but... I see this is a lost opportunity for us to make better acquaintance Artemus dear.

Artemus pressed his lips together, just a few seconds before giving Dorothy a very polite answer to calm her down.

"I know how disappointed you are Dorothy, but may be we could have dinner just the two of us after this is all over?"

Artemus was hoping to get her to cooperate for this dinner.

Dorothy turned around and placed both of her arms around his shoulders, bringing him closer to her. He wasn't ready for such a bold move on her part.

"Artemus, dear, I am not a very patient woman...but I can understand that this is what's best for now..."

And on her last word she pulled herself from him and picked up her little purse signifying to Artie that she was ready to go downstairs.

 **Meanwhile...in Dorchester**...

James decided to leave his horse a the restaurant situated a few meters from the Gallery. He then quickly disappeared behind the buildings in the back alley.

Making his way through the buildings, James silently approached the entrance of the cellar. He waited, in the dark, glued to a wall, to make sure no one was guarding the entrance. A few seconds later, seeing that no one was coming in or out of the place, he approached the door and tried to open it. It was locked, naturally. He then took out a small device from his pocket to pick the lock. In seconds, the door gave in to Jim's magic touch. He took his gun out and slowly got in the dark cellar.

The place was old and humid and James felt some rats ran between his legs.

"I see...a 5 star hotel..." though James while slowly getting further, not bothered by the rodents.

The place was obscure, but James could manage to see where he was going because there were torches bringing some light in the cellar. He stopped, and listened to try and hear if there were men still present in the cellar but James couldn't hear a thing. Happy to see that he was alone, he then continued walking along the small corridor until he quickly got to a enclosed chamber illuminated with torches. The place was empty and really small and whatever Baxter was hiding, James wondered where it could be! No signs of the uncles either.

"Where can they be?" he thought, looking around with his hands on the brick wall.

He tried pushing on wall to see if there was any secret room, or passage, but to his surprise, James couldn't find a thing!

He was about to give up on finding the uncles when, his foot hit the hinges of a concealed trapdoor in the floor, hidden under some hay.

"Ahhh there you are mysterious cave!"

He slowly opened the door and saw that there was another hidden room below the floor. He cautiously proceeded down the stairs.

The place was lighted with torched here and there along the cave. It was clear that this was the place James ought to be looking for the uncles. Once on the floor of the cave, James noticed huge wood boxes piled up in the corner of the small chamber where he had landed.

"I wonder what's in there..." he thought, wanting to look inside. Tempted to open a box, James decided instead to continue his exploration outside the little chamber to another longer corridor, where he thought, he would find other clues, and possibly the uncles.

 **Meanwhile in Grinsburgh...**

Artemus and Dorothy came down the stairs to join Augustine who was already waiting in the hotel's dining room. Artemus thought that it would be simpler to eat there, instead of getting out. He had heard someone talk about the chef's famous beef stroganoff and was curious to try place had, after all, some class for a little town like Grinsburgh.

Augustine stood up when she saw Artemus and Dorothy approach her table.

"Dorothy, Artemus, how good it is to see you both tonight. I am looking forward our dinner together."

Artemus gallantly shook Augustine's hand and pulled a chair for Dorothy to sit down.

"I must admit that I thought Artemus and I would have ...a dinner just the two of us...but I can understand that we need to talk about the investigation." said Dorothy, with a cold tone of voice.

Augustine politely smiled without saying a word.

Artemus could immediately feel that the two women were not in such good terms. He wondered why.

"Ladies" said Artemus, sitting down, "Your presence here tonight will help us finding your uncles. You both should be happy about that!"

Dorothy was about to say something, when a waiter appeared out of nowhere and approached their table. He greeted them and began reciting the menu without asking their permission. He was acting fast, and lacked a certain class.

"Welcome to McGinny. On tonight's menu we offer the fish, Cod, a steak, prime beef, and also our renowned beef stroganoff. We also offer a mix of greens and a chicken soup for the entrée. Would you like to order something to drink first?"

Like a true gentleman, Artemus ordered a fine bottle of wine to be shared by the trio. Without further words, the waiter returned to the kitchen to get the expensive bottle of wine.

"So?" suddenly said Dorothy. "What's the status on our uncles?"

"Didn't Artemus tell you?" said Augustine, more then whiling to share what they had found out.

Dorothy looked surprised.

"No...is there any news?" said Dorothy looking straight at Artemus for answers.

Our secret agent had totally forgotten to tell Augustine not to share the new developments with Dorothy. He bit his tongue, mad at himself.

"Yes..." Artemus hesitated a bit then came to the conclusion that it was too late to hide it rom her. "It would seem that...the owner of the gallery...Baxter...has something to do with it..."

"The man who owns the gallery where we bought the paintings? The paintings I am SURE my uncle painted?"

Dorothy's tone of voice got an octave higher. She was clearly mad to have been kept out of the new developments. She was about to say something when the waiter chose this moment to reappear from the small kitchen with the bottle and three glasses.

"You will love this bottle, it came straight from California!"

Dorothy had no choice but to wait while the young waiter opened the bottle. How could've they continued talking? The young man clearly didn't see he was interrupting Dorothy. Artemus took this moment to discreetly look at Dorothy and Augustine and try why the tension was escalating between the two women. He wondered why those two didn't seem to see eye to eye in this investigation.

The young waiter finally finished pouring the wine and quickly took the orders of his customers. He then left without saying a word.

"That waiter needs to have better training in serving his customers." said Artemus while smelling his glass of wine. At last our trio could go on with their evening.

Artemus picked up his glass, invited his lady friends to do the same and toasted to the evening and the investigation.

"To finding your uncles very soon!"

Dorothy and Augustine raised their glasses and toasted to the occasion.

Artemus took a few seconds to taste the fine liquid as it gave him a warm sensation coming down his throat.

He nodded his head in approval.

"Mmm...I must admit that this wine was a really good choice."

"It is indeed very good" said Augustine after taking a sip.

Artemus joined her and took another sip. He then continued on with his earlier conversation.

"As I was saying... Dorothy... it would seem that your uncle did paint those paintings...he is captive in Baxter's cellar under the gallery."

Dorothy's expression changed to pleasant to overcome with emotions in seconds.

"Really?"

"Yes." answered Artemus, waiting to see what would happen next.

"So...what are we doing here? Let's call the police! Let's raid the place!"

Dorothy became more agitated by the second.

"It is not as simple as this, Dorothy...it would seem that Baxter own the town and probably owns the police...they would find a way to top us from finding your uncle, and James..."

"Where is James? suddenly asked Augustine while playing with her necklace, nervously. "Isn't he going to join us?"

"Oh...don't worry, he is, as we speak, investigating the situation at Baxter's cellar." answered Artemus calmly.

Dorothy then suddenly stood up like she needed to be somewhere.

"Can you give me a moment here, that wine taste like dirt water, I will tell that stupid waiter, that this is unacceptable!"

And just like that, without listening to Artemus's plea to stay at the table, Dorothy left and went straight to the kitchen with a mad look on her face.

Dorothy's behavior left Artemus and Augustine speechless.

Augustine was the first to speak up after her departure.

"I don't trust her Artemus...this woman has a weird behavior!"

Artemus returned his attention to Augustine.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Artemus...shouldn't we be in this together? We are both worried about our uncles...but I feel like she his hiding something from me! We stay in the same hotel, and yet, when I try to invite her for breakfast, or dinner, so we could eat together...she declines my every invitations! I am telling you Artemus...your should investigate her! There is something fishy here."

Artemus was about to answer when Dorothy came out of the small kitchen with a weird expression on her face.

"Dorothy...please...there was no need to be...so..."

Dorothy interrupted Artemus before he could finish his phrase.

"I'm sorry...it's just that when I get nervous...I tend to lash out at people...I came to my senses in there...don't worry...the waiter is fine...this whole situation is driving me insane."

Dorothy sat down but Artemus could feel she was still a bit agitated from the news.

" Now what are we going to do about my uncle?" said Dorothy while sitting down, trying to remain calm.

Artemus was about to say something when out of the blue Augustine stood up at her turn.

"Will you excuse me for a moment...I think I will go and take some medication for my arm..I have a horrible feeling of throbbing in my arm, it really hurts tonight..."

It was Augustine's turn to leave the trio and go back to her room upstairs.

"Yes, of course Augustine, I am sorry to hear that your arm is bothering you..."

Augustine left without giving Artemus the chance to finish his sentence. She seemed to be in a hurry to leave the table.

Artemus didn't know what to make out from her weird behavior. Dorothy was the first to break the silence after Augustine left. She came closer to Artemus and whispered:

"Artie...I don't trust that woman..."

Artemus almost choked on his wine.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I don't trust her! I tried inviting her for breakfast a couple of times, but she is never in her room! Where could she be in a town where she knows no one!"

Dorothy took a sip of her wine while Artemus looked around the dining room, a bit stressed.

"What is going here?" he thought while trying to figure out where Dorothy was going with her accusations.

"What do you mean...she is never in her room?"

"I mean, she is NEVER in her room!" insisted Dorothy.

"Come on...we shouldn't doubt Augustine's behavior. May be she went out for walks, who knows?"

"In this heat?" replied Dorothy, making him feel like he was useless.

Artemus hesitated a bit but continued with his suspicion.

"Weren't you wearing a hat, last time we saw each other...and it was very warm outside?"

Dorothy stared at him.

"So? Can't a lady always look her best, even in this stinky little town and this stupid heat?"

Artemus immediately knew he should've have gone there.

"I'm sorry Dorothy, I should never forget how "looking your best" is very important for you...I am sorry."

Dorothy seem to quickly forgive him and gently placed her hand on his forearm.

"This is nice...just the two of us, isn't ?"

Artie smiled at her and placed his hand over hers.

"Yes Dorothy...but not tonight...I have a few questions for you and Augustine. Let's just enjoy our meal together...shall we?"

Artemus hoped she would be more cooperative.

Dorothy gently took her hand off his arm and rearranged her hair.

"Yes Artie, you know what's best for us and I do appreciate your help finding my uncle...what is it your wanted to know?"

Artemus was about to ask her about her uncle when the clumsy waiter suddenly reappeared with their food. As usual, his timing was impeccable!

"You will love our beef stroganoff! People come from miles around just to eat it!"

He then clumsily dropped the plates on the table, lacking some serious serving skills. Dorothy, somehow, didn't seem to be bothered by him.

Augustine was still in her room and had not come back down back yet.

"Her food will get cold...should you go and get her?" proposed Dorothy, innocently.

"I think I will..." said Artemus while getting out of his chair.

He left Dorothy in the company of the waiter and went straight up the stairs to Augustine's room that was on the complete opposite of Dorothy's room at the end of the hall.

Artemus knocked once; no answer.

"May be she didn't hear me." thought Artemus trying to see if he could hear here through the door.

No a sound. He knocked again, waited and then, after a moment that felt too long for Artemus, the door opened on Augustine, who seemed a bit out of breath.

Surprised by it and mostly curious, Artemus tried looking in her room, but couldn't because Augustine was blocking the entrance.

"I am so sorry! I couldn't answer you the first time...I was... drinking water and trying to take my medicine...I should be all right of the rest of the night. As our food been served?" asked Augustine while almost pushing Artemus out of the door frame.

He had no choice but to step back to let her leave the room.

"What is going on here..." he thought

"Yes, Augustine, the food has been served. This is why I came to get you."

"Thank you Artemus. This is very kind of you. Shall we go down? I am starving!"

Artemus let her pass in front of him and followed her. Something was off about what had just happened, but he didn't know exactly what.

"This evening is getting weirder by the minute." he thought, while returning to the dining room with Augustine.

 **Meanwhile...in the cellar**...


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10. Short Fuse

James finally arrived near the end of the long narrow corridor and discovered two prison cells. He slowly approached the first one, not sure of what he would find.

He was relieved to see Henry Jackson sleeping on a makeshift bed. He seemed okay, but had very dirty clothes on him.

"Mister Jackson!"

Jim tried to wake the man up but couldn't shout to loud man was snoring like a bear!

"Henry Jackson...wake-up!"

The man was still sound asleep.

"Sorry but I gotta do this!" thought Jim while picking a small rock on the ground to throw it at him through the bars.

Jackson woke-up immediately and threw himself of his bead. It felt as if he was used to being woken up this way.

"Yes! Yes! I am working...I was just getting some rest! Can't a man have 2 hours of sleep!"

Jackson stood up and stared at James. He had disheveled hair and looked as if he had not bathed in a while.

The look on his face was priceless.

"Who are you?" he said with a gravelly voice. "Are you a new employee here?" Jackson rubbed his eyes to see clearer.

"Sir, my name is James West, I'm from the secret service, I'm here to get you out!"

The poor man almost started to cry.

"Really? You found us? You will get us out of here? You're not another Baxter employee?""

"No sir, I investigated your disappearance with my partner, I will get you out of here!" replied James with a softer voice. "Where is Spencer? Is he here somewhere?"

Jackson pointed at the other cell. His cell communicated with Spencer' could see each other but bars kept them apart. James hadn't noticed Spencer still sound asleep in the farthest corner of the room, on a tiny bed made out wood.

"You have to be careful! You never know when Baxter's men might come by! Hurry!" said Jackson with a lower tone of voice.

"Stand back Mister Jackson, I will open the door!"

Jim took the heel of his boot off, picked-up a small sticky explosive, placed against the lock of the bars, took a little short fuse from his belt buckle to stick it in and lighted it up with a match.

"It will explode in just a few seconds. Take cover!"

Jackson went in the furthest corner of his cell and curled up in a little ball.

The explosion wasn't has loud as Jim expected but it sure woke-up Spencer that was sleeping in the next cell.

"What is this?" said the man, who didn't seem to appreciate being woken-up this way.

James entered Jackson's cell.

"James West, Secret Service, I'm here to get you both out! Be ready Mister Spencer, I will do the same for your cell!"

It only took a few seconds for the man to regain his full senses and understand what was going on.

"Is this true Henry? We will finally get out of this hell?""

Spencer was as shocked as his cell partner.

"Yes George! This man is from the secret services! They finally found us! Your plan worked!"

James was about to place another small explosive on the lock of the cell when he fell something cold hit his head.

After that...it all went all black.

End of chapter 9


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 The revelations

The rest of Artemus's evening went was as fast as he could have hoped for. Augustine was acting cold toward Dorothy and vice versa. He tried in vain to make Augustine and Dorothy talk about their uncles, or to each other, but something was stopping them from being themselves. The atmosphere was were eating in a dreadful silence. The only person breaking it, was the waiter coming to take their plates away or to pour wine in their glasses. Even he, seemed to notice the strange atmosphere of the dinner.

Artemus kept thinking about what Dorothy had told him earlier, about Augustine. The way she acted when she came out of her room, made Artemus even more suspicious about her. But then again, when he started analyzing Augustine behavior, other controversial thoughts came to his mind; and what about if Dorothy was trying to put the blame on Augustine? She was after all injured in the process of trying to find her uncles! What started this feud in the first place?

Confused and not knowing what to make out of this unusual evening, Artemus looked at his pocket watch, hoping that it was time for goodbyes. He had given up trying to break the cold atmosphere.

"Ladies, dinner was delicious, and your company…" he hesitated a bit " well…interesting to say the least…but…I guess…"

Dorothy looked Artemus with a polite smile and interrupted him.

"The two of us would have had a much nicer evening, dear Artemus." said Dorothy with a cold stare towards Augustine.

"I don't know why you suddenly started to dislike me, Dorothy, but I can assure you that I am as worried as you, about my uncle, as you are!"

"Am I going to assist to a cat fight tonight?" thought Artemus while resting himself more comfortably on his chair.

Dorothy wasn't going to stop there. She continued,

"I don't believe you…at first…I did…but frankly…now? There is just something odd about you Augustine Jackson!"

Dorothy stood up, looked at Artemus and simply said,

"Thank you for dinner Artemus, if you find any new developments about my uncle, please, tell me as soon as you know. Don't let no one fool you with their pretty little smiles!"

And on that note, she gave Augustine a snobbish look that said it all and exited the small dining room.

Augustine sat there and didn't say a word.

"I hope to God I can find what's wrong with Dorothy. Do you have any ideas Augustine?" asked Artemus almost speechless.

"I wish I could tell you, but I don't know what's going on with her. She has been acting strange these last few days…"

Augustine gracefully stood up from the table and said,

"If you find anything about my uncle, please tell me as soon as possible. Thank you for the lovely evening. I think I will try and get some rest now…my arm is bothering me a bit."

Artemus stood up, and looked at Augustine leave the dining room.

"James, my boy...you had to be here to see this weird evening." he though while sighing.

Artemus sat down again, and drank what was left in his glass. He had better dining experience before, and certainly didn't think this one was going to finish this way. The place was empty, it was around 9:30 and the dining room was about to close.

 **Meanwhile in a house…somewhere.**

James painfully woke up from the blow to his head. His eyes were still closed, but he could feel right away that his hands were tight up with a rough realizing that he could not use his hands, he opened his eyes to realize something even worst; he was attached to a gambling casino wheel, shirtless, his head upside down. His unfortunate position wasn't helping his splitting headache either.

He looked around the room where he was and knew immediately that he was at Baxter's house. The living room was large with red drapes and beautiful antiques and paintings. James's gaze stopped on the poor two uncles who were sitting on a velvet couch, looking at him with despair. Their face said it all; they were scared to death of what was going to happen next.

"Are you comfortable, mister West?" asked Baxter, bending to approach Jim's face with a nasty smile.

James looked at him with disdain.

"Baxter…I knew this was all you. I've had better positions in my life." James grimaced from the blow to his head. A small amount of blood was running down the side of his face.

"I see you are quite an original. A casino wheel, really?"

Baxter then turned the wheel so James would be straight up. He welcomed the change of position.

"Yes, West. I am an original, and original with great visions."

Baxter then walked away from James and sat in a chair, facing him. The man had grey hair with a mustache, and was kinda short. He was wearing a costume that resembled Napoleon Bonaparte's clothing. He looked odd.

"Another frustrated short man…" thought James while examining him.

He then added,

"What is this all about, Baxter. Why did you kidnap Jackson and Spencer?"

Baxter extended his arm to pick up a crystal glass of champagne that was on a small table next to him.

"Oh…don't worry West…I will tell you what this is all about." said Baxter with a haughty voice. "Then afterwards…Nina will have some fun with you."

A young stunning woman just entered the room. She had brown hair and piercing blue eyes, and strangely resembled Dorothy Spencer. She easily could have been her little sister. She was also wearing some sort of a vest with little pockets filled with small knifes. She was obviously a knife thrower.

"Ahhh…I see you like entertainment." said James with a very calm voice.

"I do! A good champagne always goes well with good entertainment, don't you agree mister West?"

Jackson and Spencer looked at James with horror. They looked even more frail under a good lighting.

"I am all ears, Baxter. Please…do tell me what is your plan. I figure…you must have a plan, right? I just didn't figure it out yet…" James was keeping his cool. The more he would make Baxter talk, the more he could try to find a way out of this sticky situation.

 **Meanwhile, in a dining room, with Artemus.**

"I see your beautiful women have left you, sir?" said the young waiter, clumsily cleaning off the table and the plates left behind.

"Oh my boy…this evening didn't exactly go as planned. You see…those two women have lost their uncles..and…"

Artemus stoped and thought that the wine was making him talk more then he should have, but felt like he wanted to tell someone his weird evening and continued anyway.

"Those two women have lost their uncles…but you see…each one tells me the other one is suspicious! So, now…who do I trust? They both have good arguments...because frankly, those women were acting very weird tonight."

The young waiter, still standing there with plates in his hands, seemed interested in Artemus's story.

"I see , sir…this is really a touchy situation. Men can't never tell with women…they are so clever at hiding things! I have learned that while courting some pretty ladies."

"I couldn't agree more with you, young man."

And on these words, Artemus paid the young waiter, got up and left the dining room. He was the last customer.

He walked toward the exit of the restaurant, with his mind still back at the table with the two ladies. He kept wonderfing, how the evening quickly turned sour.

"Something is wrong here…why the sudden turn of situation? I wonder if James found anything…"

 **Meanwhile back at Baxter's house…**

"Ahhh" said Baxter with a condescending tone, "It was really fun to see you, and Artie, try and find out where I kept the uncles."

Baxter got James's attention with his last statement.

"See us?" You knew what we were up too?" asked James, curious.

"Well of course! I wasn't gonna kidnap the uncle and not keep an eye on you and your partner! Your reputation proceeds you! I am not a fool! I knew I had to keep you in check!"

If James could halve scratched his head, he would have, because Baxter was more intriguing then ever with his statement.

"More explanations would be welcomed, Baxter…I'm sure you are dying to tell me more."

Jim knew, with experience that evil men always wanted to tell how they did it…so he would wait to hear the rest of the story.

His host smiled, placed the glass of champagne back on the table and got up. He approached the two uncles, sitting on the couch.

They moved instinctively, afraid to get hit by the man.

"Yes, West…I knew what you were up too…you see…someone reported back to me, and told me everything little thing you and your partner were doing. A lovely lady working for me, was spying for me, right under your eyes!"

Baxter laughed.

James's expression suddenly changed.

He was thinking about Artie, who was probably sitting down with the woman…a traitor…but would not even know it.

"You sneaky little man." said James trough his teeth.

"OH…but, this is only a small part of my master plan, mister West, I am sure that you will agree with me, once I am finished, that my plan IS genius!"

 **Meanwhile with Artemus…**

"Augustine seemed pretty winded for a woman, who was supposed to be in her room. She did look evasive and…suspicious." thought Artemus, getting closer to his horse waiting for him.

He then stopped, hesitated, and looked back at the hotel.

"I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't investigate more…Augustine, I'm going to pay you a little visit."

Artemus, sneaked back into the hotel, passed the empty reception, and went straight up stairs to Augustine's room. He approached in silence, trying not to be heard. Once in front of the room, he gently pressed his ear against her door. He could hear her voice, and the voice of two other men in the room with her.

"You little devil woman." thought Artemus, pressing his lips together.

He then check if the room next to hers what occupied. He slowly tried to open the door, and to his surprise, the door wasn't locked. A small lamp was providing some lighting to the room.

"No one? Good…"

Artemus got in, gently closed the door behind him, and went straight to the wall dividing the two rooms, with the idea to listen in on their conversations. Artemus was about to place a glass to the wall and press his ear on, when someone stopped him. He felt a hand on his shoulder, pulling him away from the wall.

A voice in his back whispered,

"They are coming back! We better hide!"

Artemus found himself being rushed into a big armoire, with someone he didn't even have the time to look at. All he saw was his back, in a dimmed light.

Once they both were hidden in the dark armoire, Artemus, more then curious, looked to his left, squinted his eyes, only to discover, that he was hiding with the waiter that previously served him dinner.

The surprise on his face was obvious. He was about to ask the man, what on earth he was doing there, when he was stopped by the young waiter who placed his hand on his mouth, to silence him.

He pointed to the exterior of the wardrobe, making Artemus realize that they were not alone in the room anymore.

 **Meanwhile, back at the mansion... with James…shirtless.**

 **To be continued!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 "He's crazier then I thought!"**

Baxter kept walking in front of James, like a lion in cage, looking at his prey with his arrogant smile.

"You say your plan is genius?" asked James with a serious tone. "I've got news for you, Baxter!They all say that…and yet…they all fail!"

Baxter stopped dead in his tracks.

"My plan will fail?"

Baxter chuckled at what his prisoner had just said.

"My plan is full proof, West! Aren't you here, with us, not able to get yourself out of this one?"

James gave him a smirk.

Baxter approached him and reached into his own pants's pocket to take out a five dollar bill.

"Do you know what this is?" He asked, waving the money right under James's nose.

"A five dollar bill. Why?"

"Weren't you investigating a case of counterfeit money?"

James hadn't thought about his case for a few days now. How Baxter knew about it, made him really curious.

"Yes…I was, why? What does it have to do with you?"

"My dear West, it has everything to do with me!"

"What are you talking about?"

James was now very curious about the five dollar bill.

"You see, West…you have in front of you, the next President of the United States."

"Baxter…please…you think this five dollar bill will help you get elected? Come on, no more riddles!"

James was trying to figure out what Baxter was talking about.

His host sighed heavily, as if he was upset that James didn't guess what he was talking about.

"Now, come on, West! Aren't you one of the best secret agent! You should guess what my plan is!"

Baxter got angrier.

"You want me to guess your plan from a 5 dollar bill? You are crazier then I thought!"

James's last remark earned him a punch in the stomach. Baxter didn't go easy on him.

After regaining his breath, and coughing to take the pain away, James looked at baxter with defiance and said:

"That was just what I needed, thanks."

Ignoring James's reply, Baxter walked away, defiant, like an emperor would do, and went to see the two uncles still sitting on the couch. Scared of being hit also, they ducked their heads and try to prepare being hit.

Once near them, Baxter's attitude changed, and he forgot why he had walked towards them in the first place.

"I see your reputation is exaggerated!"

He then looked at the two men, and changed direction again.

" I will give you some clues…but you have to guess!"

Baxter's tone completely changed in seconds. The whole situation felt like a game show now.

Was Baxter the only one in the room having fun with this? It appeared so.

" You see, I want to be the commander in chief of this beautiful country. How can I get what I want without having to climb the later, and be patient, and put my future in the hands of others? I don't want to be president when I am 70! I want it now!"

" I see. You want to be President. You don't want to wait…I get it."

James secretly wished that Artie was there, he was so good at riddles and he would help him get out of this difficult situation.

" I needed geniuses and great minds to invent something for me. First; I needed a way to deliver a deadly poison…"

James immediately thought about the letter that had killed Provosky.

"The same kind of poison that killed Provosky?"

Baxter was suddenly happy that James had guessed a part of his plan.

"You are slowly getting there, Mister West! Provosky was not going to talk to you. I had to get rid of him…"

"With the same poison you will…"

James didn't have the courage to finish his sentence.

"Kill the president? Yes!" said Baxter, as he smiled like a child, happy that James now knew more about his plan.

"This asshole is crazier then I thought" thought James, getting more irritated by the minute with his host.

 **Meanwhile with Artemus and his intriguing friend** …

Artemus and his young friend, were hiding in the huge armoire, when they heard men enter the room.

Artemus and his young friend could hear what they were saying.

" Let's go to Baxter's. He captured West. Your know how he is with his guests…this should be very interesting to see."

"What about Gordon?" asked another man.

"I think he left…nothing to worry about. He won't even know what's happening to his friend."

The men started laughing.

"What are you talking about? said a female voice.

"Your job is done. Baxter captured West. He is probably torturing him as we speak. We should go back to the mansion.

Other laughs.

"What about Dorothy Spencer? I think she knows…about me…"

Artemus's young friend, could feel the agent was about to jump out of the armoire and try and fight them all with his bare hands, even thought he had a gun on him. He discretely placed his hand on his arm, to calm him down, so he would not attempt anything foolish.

"Leave her…when she sees that West is no longer…and that Gordon will be taken care of …tomorrow…she will just disappear. Where else could she ask for help?"

"Okay then…let me just take my purse and I will join you in a couple of seconds. I'm glad this whole thing is almost over, I was tired of being someone I'm not. Wait for me, I shouldn't be too long.

Artemus looked at his young friend with anger all over his face.

They both stayed there, in total silence, until the men, and Augustine, exited the room.

Artemus didn't waist a second to get out of the armoire.

"What on earth is going on here? Who are you?" whispered Artemus.

"Calm down sir, let's not waste any time! We still can capture Augustine, and her acolytes if we are wise and act fast! She is the only way we can help your friend!."

The young man lead the way to an armoire, resting against the wall that was dividing the two rooms. Artemus quickly noticed that the armoire was indeed a secret passage between both rooms.

Both men discretely entered the armoire with the idea to stop Augustine.

She had her back turned to the armoire, and was picking up her little purse on her bedside table, unaware that Artemus and his young friend were just behind her. In a matter of seconds, the young man had his hand over Augustine's mouth to stop her from screaming, and Artie was standing in front of the poor woman, showing her, he wasn't afraid of using his gun if necessary.

She tried to free herself from the young waiter 's grip but when she saw Artemus with his gun pointing at her, she stop wiggling.

The young man quickly took matter into his own hands.

"Sir," whispered the young man, " let her call the men in her room, and let's capture them. After all, there are only two of them. May be you could knock out one of the guys on his head, and the shoot the other one on the leg, or, whatever you feel you need to do. The most important thing here, is to stop them from leaving."

Without hesitation, Artemus went and hid behind the bedroom door. He grabbed a large ashtray made of glass and metal and prepared to assault the two men.

"Now lady…if you wanna live, you will do as I say, otherwise, I won't hesitate to do whatever is necessary to shut you up. Do you understand?" said the young man to Augustine.

She nodded her head, breathing heavily, scared for her life.

"Call the men here, tell them your need their help for something. REMEMBER! If you say a wrong word and I will break your neck!"

Augustine agreed and gave Artemus and the young man, a nod of the head, telling them she was going to oblige to their plan. She was scar4d for her life, and it showed.

The young waiter, slowly took his hand off her mouth and let go of the grip he had on her.

"Jess…Randy! Guys! Could you come and help me for something?" shouted Augustine, to the men outside with her voice, slightly higher then usual.

5 seconds later, the door opened on two men, curious to see why Augustine had called them in.

Artemus, quick as lightning, stood out from behind the door and hit the first man on the head with the enormous glass ashtray. The young waiter, picked up a hair brush that was on a small table near him and threw it at the other man, who, surprised by this flying object, placed both hands in front of his face to protect himself; that's when Artemus quickly disarmed him and his friend, pushed him on the floor next to his acolyte. Artemus then kicked the door shut and held the men down with his revolver pointing at them.

Augustine was invited to take a place beside them, and sat on the floor, next to Jess who was rubbing his head, and Randy who was mad at himself from being disarmed so easily.

"What do you want!" asked the taller one, Jess.

"The question is more like, why did your boss captured James West and what did he do with the two uncles!" said the young waiter with a firm tone of voice.

Artemus looked at his young partner in crime and thought that he handled himself very nicely in this situation. He still had no idea to whom he was though.

"Augustine…" said Artemus, "well…I know that this is not your real name…but…I must admit that you really had us fooled my dear. What is your purpose in all of this? What will you gain from impersonating Augustine Jackson?"

The young woman, stayed there, sitting amongst her acolyte, looking at the floor, in total silence. She didn't even look at Artemus or the young man. It felt as if she was ashamed of being caught.

Seeing that the men were not going to talk that easily either, the young waiter told Artemus to keep the trio in check and went out the room for a few seconds only to come back with ropes, to tie them all up.

Once all tied up, and taken care of, Artemus was invited to leave the room with the young man without further instruction. Once outside the room, the young waiter, and Artemus, went in the next room, to listen in on their captive. This simple trick, and the fact that Augustine felt threatened made her talk and spill her secret.

"I don't wanna die guys! I'm scared! What do you think they will do with us? How can Baxter get me out of here, if he doesn't know we are tied up here?"

Panicking, Augustine was now shedding tears.

"I will tell them what they want to know! I will tell them why Baxter needed the two uncles, why I am impersonating Augustine! I want out of this!"

"Shut up Loretta! You know Baxter will get us out of here, when he notices we are not back from this place!" said Jess angrily.

"Yeah!" replied the other man, "You ain't gotta be scared of anything, Baxter will get us out of here. Come on, Loretta! Stop panicking!"

"I don't know that for sure! I don't want to be caught in his schemes anymore! He can become the President of the United States all he wants, but I won't be there to support him and his crazy idea of killing the President!"

Loretta, was now in full panic.

"I should have known this wouldn't work out!"

Loretta was more and more anxious.

"Please, untie me and I will tell you everything you need to know!" she shouted, hoping that Artemus and the young waiter would here her from the other room…and they did!

 **On the other side of the room** …

Artemus and the young man, heard everything Loretta said, and were pretty happy to see that she was going to talk after all.

"Your plan worked! Good job young man, but before we go further and interrogate her, you and I need to have a discussion; who are you? Are you working for the government? Are you a new young agent?" asked Artemus, both hands on his waist, whispering.

"I am a private investigator sir. My name is Gregory Perkins. I was hired by the real Augustine Jackson!"

"The real Augustine? Ah ah…I see…Baxter could not find her, didn't want to waste any time, so he asked a young woman to impersonate her, and keep him in the loop! I see!"

Gregory continued his explanation.

"I have been in this town for a couple for days now, working as a waiter here, so I could see and hear things from the customers, to try and get a lead. I saw the women, and I can tell you that Dorothy Spencer was very suspicious of Augustine…and she was right! I spied on Augustine…well…Loretta… because I knew she wasn't the real one and noticed that there was always two men, going up and down the stairs, while Loretta was in her room. Always the same men! I checked her room once…hoping to find something and almost got caught by Jess and Randy…I discovered with luck, that the two rooms were linked. This is why Dorothy Spencer always said that Loretta was never in her room! She was with the guys, in the adjacent room, planning her next moves! I learned about Baxter and his plan…heard what he wants do to, about becoming the next President...but not enough details to guide me. I didn't know where the uncles were kept. I think Loretta will be of great help, sir! And then, you came in this situation! That's about it!"

Artemus was listening carefully to what the young man was saying.

"I see…it makes sense to me. You have a good instinct Gregory. Good moves out there earlier, I mean…I suspected you, because, you were not doing a great job as a water, but a darn good one as a private investigator!"

Both men shook hands.

"My name is Artemus Gordon, I work for the government and, well...we first wanted to help the two woman find their missing uncles, but discovered that they were held out at Baxter's residence, and that there was more to it then only two missing uncles…"

"We came to the same conclusion. It would seem, thought, that your partner is captive. We have to find a way to get him out of there, with the uncles as soon as possible!"

A sudden knock on the door surprised both men. Artemus took his gun out and went by the door.

"Who is it?"

A short silence on the other side of the door.

"Artemus? Artemus, is that you? It's me, Dorothy! What on earth are you doing in there? I couldn't relax with all the banging and noises from Augustine's room!"

Artemus placed his gun back in his holster and opened the door on a very curious Dorothy.

"Come in!"

He quickly grabbed her by the arm and let her in the room.

She looked at Artemus and the young waiter, with a strange expression on her face.

"What is this?"

"Site down" said Artemus, while walking her to the bed, " open your ears and listen up!"

 **End of Chapter 12**

 **To be continued...**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **Can someone please get me out of here!**

"So…you're going to kill President Grant…with poison?"

"Yes sir!" answered Baxter, smiling from ear to ear, proud of his genius plan.

"With a letter? The same kind that killed Provosky?" asked James, afraid of what was going to happen if he didn't stop this in time.

"Of course! As we speak, I have a carrier, on his way to Washington, with a very special letter for our dear president!"

James got a sickening feeling in his gut.

"Then what? You think the people will GIVE YOU the presidency?"

Baxter looked at James with a look of disdain.

"You should know, West, that I have more then one ace in my hand!"

"Oh yeah…right…the uncles…Jackson was forced to cook up something lethal for you...and will probably invent a doomsday machine for you, or something in that line or work?"

"You are clever then I thought West! Now you're talking!"

Baxter was all smiles. Without saying a word, he walked out to his desk in the corner of the room, and pressed on a button hidden under it. Somehow two men quickly appeared, ready to act according to his demands.

"Get the uncles out of here. We are wasting precious time. Jackson should be working on my project, he should be finish by morning, bring them back to the cave!"

The poor uncles looked at James with a sense of helplessness. They didn't say a word, but their faces said it all. They were going back to the place they thought they'd get rescued from.

"Darling!" Interrupted Nina, taking this time to have a word with Baxter, before he continued his charades,

"When will I have him all to myself? You said I would have West all to myself to …do as I want and torture him as I please! I am tired of listening to you, go on and on…"

The young woman was clearly tired of waiting for her time alone with James.

Baxter didn't like the interruption, and approached the woman who was sitting on a comfortable leather chair, next to the fire place.

"Darling, this is MY moment. I am having so much fun now, don't ruin this for me with your whining!

And on his last word, he slowly caressed her face with the outside of his hand.

"You know how I don't like hitting women! Don't make me lose my temper darling!"

Nina slowly bowed her head, afraid he was going to hit her also. She replied, with a very soft voice, much more different from the whining before,

"I'm sorry darling…go on, please forgive me."

Pleased to see that Nina was going to keep quiet, and stop whining, Baxter suddenly turned around to face West, as if he was about to reveal something of great importance.

"Did you know West, that Nina, here, was the one who killed Brett Allen?"

James arched his eye brows.

"Really?"

The young woman was more then eager to confirm her act.

"Yes, I killed him while he was asleep. It was very fun to see my cous…" Nina stopped for a second, looked at Tim Baxter, for his approval, then continued.

"It was nice to see, my cousin Dorothy Spencer and your friend, Gordon, trying to find out who killed the old man. I was the one cooking the meal for them that night, replacing, the usual cook." She sighed. "It would have been so easy to kill them all…with a little arsenic…but…I was told to only make the old man disappear. Such a shame, really! I have been longing to get my revenge on Dorothy for years, I guess I will have to wait one more day or so…"

The young woman's tone was so cold, even James was surprised by how easy it was for her to kill someone and to talk about it bluntly. He was even more surprised about the fact that Dorothy Spencer was her cousin.

"Your cousin? Dorothy Spencer is your cousin?" repeated James, just to be sure his brain wasn't playing tricks on him.

Nina was about to answer when Baxter shushed her.

"I…will tell the story to James West, Nina. You can be so emotional when you speak about your dear cousin!"

Nina, smiled at him, with her mouth tightly closed as if she was refraining herself to even say one little word wrong.

"I am all ears." said James, now even more curious about this whole story.

"You see, Mister West, Nina's father is, Greg Spencer. To make a long story short, Georges Spencer has 2 brothers, Jerry and Greg. Jerry, who died a couple of years ago, was Dorothy 's father. Greg, the younger brother, had a fling with a prostitute, resulting in the birth of Nina here. But you see, Greg was strongly influenced and convinced by Jerry to leave Nina and her mother in the poorest part of town. Greg disappeared, leaving them without a word and no money to help them survive. He traveled overseas, met a lovely woman, got married and moved to Georgia. Poor Nina here, knew that she had a father, with money, who didn't care at all about her."

Baxter looked at Nina, with a pouting face, almost making fun of her situation.

"She also knew that Jerry was the one responsible for convincing her father to leave her and her mother in the dirtiest part of town where lots of scumbags lived. It would seem that it wasn't easy for them."

Nina was still looking through the flames as if she was relieving these moments.

"But…growing up in a little town filled with thieves and crooks can bring good things! Right Nina?"

Nina didn't even look at Baxter, and just smiled, her gaze still lost in the flames.

"You see, Nina, killed Jerry! No one ever knew what happened because…Nina is good at what she does! And now…she will probably have her way with you, Gordon, and most probably, Dorothy Spencer, whom she hated all of her life!"

James gazed upon Nina who was by now playing subconsciously with one of her knife.

"The poor Dorothy Spencer, doesn't even know that her own cousin killed her father…"

" So…Dorothy Spencer is not the traitor…Augusta Jackson is." replied James.

He now knew who the traitor was.

"Well of course!" Baxter lifted his arms in the air.

"I couldn't find Augusta Jackson, I think she lives somewhere in England! I didn't have time to waste finding her! I thought that I might as well replace her with one of my girlfriends in the role of Augusta Jackson! More simpler this way! She was to report to me, and tell me what you guys were doing…"

James suddenly remembered something.

"But…she was shot! In the bar, when all of this started! Was she shot on purpose, Baxter?" asked James, completely flabbergasted about this situation.

"Why yes!" admitted Baxter, proud of himself. " You see…don't tell me that you were not tempted by her charms, and by the fact that she was shot? You wanted to take care of her, believe her, protect her. Am I not right about this?"

Baxter looked at James with a smirk.

James thought about Augusta, with her long blond hair, and the way she was with him, and he had to agree that it was a very bold move on Baxter's part, but that it worked. He admitted to himself that her charms worked on him, may be because of that.

"I see…" James shook his head agreeing with Baxter.

"Did she know that was going to be shot?"

"Of course not! She would not have gone otherwise!"

Baxter, started to walk again in front of James.

"You see…I knew that the disappearance of those two men wouldn't be unnoticed, I had to improvise a bit, and act fast to make sure, Augusta, well…Loretta, is her real name, is you really wanna know, would contact you, about the same time Dorothy Spencer would. She would be in the loop!"

Baxter turned to see if Nina was still lost in her thoughts.

"Nina, being who she is, got in contact with me, through a channel of underground gangs, and we soon discovered that we had the same goal in life! This is pretty much the whole story."

Baxter paused then continued…

"She will probably be the next First Lady of the United States. Loretta, doesn't know it yet, but, she will probably finish like you and Gordon, and Dorothy…"

to be continued


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14. Baxter Master commander**

 **Meanwhile with Artemus and his friends** …

"And he has troops of men stationed in Pennsylvania, waiting to hear his next command!"

"But how does he pay them? What does he want to use them for?" asked Artemus, while Loretta was spitting out the truth.

Artemus, Gregory, Dorothy and Loretta were now in the kitchen downstairs. Artemus arranged for the little group to be able to use the kitchen downstairs to interrogate Loretta about Baxter's plan.

They had left her two accomplices upstairs, tied up with a piece of cloth in their mouth to keep them quiet.

"Tim Baxter is a very clever man!" answered Loretta. "He had George Spencer engrave and print fake money! Fake 5 dollar bills and also, 10, 20 dollar bills! He will use the men, as his army when he takes over Washington! He pays them with fake money."

"You mean to say that Tim Baxter pays his men, with fake money, but they don't know about it?" asked Gregory, anxious to learn more about Baxter's plan.

Loretta nodded her head.

"Yes…Baxter has more then one ace in his sleeve. He kidnaped Spencer because he needed and artist to engrave and print fake money, but also paint!"

"What do you mean…paint?" asked Dorothy Spencer.

"Baxter always loved his paintings, and so he decided to make a little profit at the same time. While Jackson was working on a poisonous device, Spencer was also producing paintings, to be sold in his gallery. He wants to continue making money no matter what! But real money!"

Dorothy totally in shock, looked at Artemus.

"I knew it! This despicable man was selling my uncle's paintings to make money! This is why George tried to ask for help, in the paintings with the hidden words!"

"That part...I didn't know about." said Loretta, with her hands tied up.

"What else do you know about Baxter's plan?" asked Artemus, trying to figure out what they would do next.

"He plans on killing President Grant. He has a letter, soaked with poison, that will be delivered in the next couple of days. It should kill President Grant instantly."

Artemus was already halfway out the door.

"We need to warn President Grant about this! I'm going over to the post office, to send a telegram! I will be back in a couple of minutes.

Artemus took his horse and went directly to the post office that was a couple of houses away. It was late, but he knew he couldn't wait to send a warning to President Grant. He would break-in the place if he had to!

 **Meanwhile, with Baxter and James** …

"Please…tell me more Baxter…I am dying to hear all about it." said James, with a tight voice.

"This man is even more dangerous then I thought. I wonder how Artie is doing right now…better then me…I hope." thought James trying to move his fingers and feet, not to get any numbness in his extremities. He would have to be fast as hell when they would untie him from the casino wheel…hopefully before Nina had his way with him.

"Okay West…so far…you are doing pretty good but the best part is yet to come!"

"I sure hope so." said James, mocking him.

His last remark earned him a very hard slap in the face.

"Now Mister West, don't be a wise ass! This will, after all, be the last confession you hear while still alive!"

James was trying to ignore the pain on his right cheek.

"I am ALL ears Baxter…could you tell me more about the money? I still haven't figured out this part of your plan, yet."

Baxter was now more calm, feeling that James was still interested in hearing his plan. Like en egomaniac he continued reciting his plan to James.

"You see…when I take over Washington, President Grant will be dead…but there will still be all the other politicians and I can't truly kill them all! Can't I?"

"I guess your can't kill them all." simply answered James.

"Well...then…this means that I needed men, right? Men to be a part of my troops for when I march on Washington. I needed the man power to do little things for me…control people…kidnap people, and I needed to pay them because…crooks and thieves won't work for free, right? You should know that! Sooo…I decided to have Spencer, engrave and print fake money for me."

James couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Nina, mad at James because he was laughing at her boss, quickly got up and placed a knife right under his throat, threatening him.

"You laugh again and I will cut you!"

Baxter, too absorbed by his own thoughts, didn't even see Nina get up and threaten James.

He turned around surprised to see her right next to his prisoner.

"Nina!" He snapped. "Sit back down!"

His tone of voice was cold.

Hesitant, Nina backed away from James, leaving a little drop of blood cascading down his throat. She was this close to opening a vein.

"Now…where was I?"

James didn't answer. Still preoccupied by Nina's behavior.

"That crazy woman will cut me in half for sure!" He thought, while listening to Baxter.

"Oh yes! Men to serve me!" said Baxter, acting as if nothing happened.

"Your see West…I want power, but I am also not dumb. My men will never know that the money is fake. They will work for me, for free basically!"

"And what will you do with the other politicians?"

" I will kidnap everyone…and place an implant in their neck."

"What the hell are you talking about, Baxter?"

" I am talking about my doomsday plan!"

Tim Baxter was now more then happy to reveal the final stage of his plan.

"Jackson, has been of great help. Well…he had no choice really; I thought about the idea and made him do it! You see…every politician will have some sort of implant; that's what I decided to call it, in the neck. It's like the size of a pea. This "pea" will be filled with some rare poison, the same really, that will kill President Grant. Jackson worked on a device that will keep the poison inside the little implant, just as long as the person stays within a certain range of a special magnet. Once this person walks away, and is no longer under the "influence" of the magnet…the capsule will open and release the deadly poison. The person will die within minutes of a painful death."

Baxter paused for a second, as if he was picturing what he had just said.

"So...as you can see, the politicians, will be inclined to stay within range, and work with whole place will be filled with magnets, but as soon as they will try and leave the house where I will keep them secluded …they will perish within minutes!"

James' jaw, dropped to the floor. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

There was a heavy silence in the room.

Baxter suddenly turned around towards Nina, like he had a genius idea.

"Nina, dear…I just had a great idea!"

"What is it?"

"What about if we waited until tomorrow and tried the implant on mister West?"

James stoped breathing for a second there.

" Why do they always want to try their evil inventions on me." he though sighing deeply.

"But you said, I could have him all to myself! Practice my knife throwing!"

Nina was more then disappointed.

"I know darling…but you see…it would be very nice to see Mister West die…and check at the same time if my special little "pea" works?"

James suddenly had a nauseating feeling.

The poor woman was very disappointed but knew she couldn't refuse. She sighed then replied,

"As you please. Whatever you decide, Tim."

Baxter applauded like a 5 year old child and shouted to the 3 men standing guard outside the room, to come in.

"Yes Boss, what is it?"

"Have a telegram sent to Dr. Murdock. I need him to be at my house, tomorrow right after lunch. He will operate on our good friend here."

"Right boss. We'll be on it!"

Two of the man stayed behind in case Baxter would need him.

"I knew this would turn out to be fun, right Mister West?"

Baxter was curious to see how West took the news.

"You're not the one dying tomorrow afternoon." simply answered James.

"You had a good life, West. Might as well go out with a BANG!"

And Baxter started to laugh like an evil clown.

He quickly ordered his 2 men to untie James, so he could spend the night in the cave.

James thought that he would use this opportunity to try and escape but before he could even try any move, he was knocked out by a blow to the head, by Nina, who had secretly placed herself behind him. He had no chance.

James was out cold…again.

It sure didn't look good for him. Tomorrow was another day…James West's last day?

To be continued…


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 Is there a Doctor in the Room?**

 **Meanwhile at the post office….**

Artemus's horse had barely just stopped, that Artemus was already on the ground running to the post office door. An old man wearing a hat had already locked it and was about to leave when Artemus violently knocked on the window to get his attention.

"I work for the government!" he shouted. "The President is in grave danger, you need to let me send out a telegram! This is a matter of life or death!"

The old men looked at Artemus, and, hesitated a bit.

"Please! This is a very serious situation here!"

Artemus wasn't going to wait for long before he would have to break in the place.

"The president is in grave danger, you say?" asked the man, wanting to be sure he heard right.

"Yes! I need to send him a telegram this instant!"

It didn't take too long before the door was open and Artie let in.

"Please, forgive my hesitation, come this way, I will take note."

The old man returned behind his desk, and awaited for Artie's words and direction.

Not knowing where to begin, Artemus scratched the back of his head, to find the right words.

"Okay…" he hesitated a bit. " Send this to Washington's Head Quarter's Bureau. They take care of treats concerning President Grant. They will still be open at this hour. Here goes: President Grant in grave danger- Poisonous letter addressed to him- Do not let him open it- Move President to secure secret location- Awaits for my instructions, Artemus Gordon."

Artemus appreciated that the old was quick to send the telegram. Once his task was finished, he looked at Artemus with a weird expression.

"Done! It is sent. Are you sure about this? President Grant is in danger? This is terrible!"

"Yes! But because we sent warning, he will be okay, thanks to your cooperation!"

"I never thought I would help save our President!" said the old man, about to leave his desk and walk Artemus to the door.

Our agent was almost out the door, when a response came in.

"Wait! It may be a response for you!"

The old man hurried back behind his counter took a pencil and a paper, and wrote down the words.

Artemus waited impatiently to see what it was all about…but since, he already knew how to sent a telegram, he deciphered what it was saying, well...most of it.

Once the telegraph stopped, the old man read his note out loud.

"I don't think this one is for you, sir. It comes from Tim Baxter."

Artemus's heart skipped a beat.

"I know this man! You need to tell me exactly what it said. You see…my partner is in grave danger also! This man has captured him! Tell me what he wrote, exactly!" said Artemus suddenly agitated.

Feeling the sense of urgency, he quickly read his note.

"It says: Doctor Murdock, be at my house tomorrow 1 PM sharp for a special operation, be discrete."

Artemus grabbed the note right out of the old man's hand.

"That's it?"

"Yes! That's all I received!"

Artemus was trying to find out what this was all about.

"Do you know who this man is?"

"Of course! He often does work for Baxter! He does all sorts of things...medical interventions...mostly! I guess he will perform an operation on someone tomorrow?"

Artemus, quickly realized that the patient was probably his buddy James.

"Where does this man live?"

"Right on the edge of the town! A big blue house! You can't miss it, the man has a lot of money, so he bought one of the biggest house here."

Artemus paused for a second then added,

"I tell you what…let me deliver the message to him. You have been kind enough to help me with my task, may be I can help you with yours?"

The old man was more then happy about Artemus' proposition, this meant that he would be home earlier.

"You would do this for me? Thank you so much, I can't wait to get home, it's been a very long day for me."

He quickly prepared the telegram and gave it to Artemus. Both men exited the post office at the same time.

Artemus got on his horse and went right back to the hotel where his accomplices were waiting for him.

Once inside he went straight to the back kitchen to see how Gregory, Dorothy and Loretta were doing.

He walked in fast, in a hurry to tell him what he had discovered.

Gregory and the ladies were still waiting for him. Seeing the look on Artemus' face, Gregory knew that Artie had new developments for them.

"What happened? Did you send the telegram?" he asked curious.

'Yes, I did. This has been taken care of, but while I was in the post office, the old man who works there, received a message from Baxter!"

Dorothy stood up from her chair.

"What did it say?"

"It seems that a certain , is required to be at Baxter's mansion tomorrow right after lunch, for a special operation."

Artemus approached Loretta, who still had her hands tied up, and asked her without hesitation…

"Do you know anything about this? About this operation he wants to do?"

Loretta bowed her head like she was ashamed. There she was, sitting at a kitchen table, looking like a little girl being scolded.

"For God's sake Loretta! My partner is in there! He could die!"

She hesitated a bit but quickly came to her senses.

"Baxter made Jackson create a device…that is implanted in the neck…or something like that… and that can explode at any times." She hesitated for 2 seconds.

"That's all I heard…Baxter didn't share all the details with me. He didn't want me to know too much of what he was going to do…I already know too much."

Artemus pressed his lips together.

"We have to do something!" said Dorothy, walking toward Artie.

" I know what I have to do! I have to take Dr. Murdock's place, so I can get inside the mansion and get James out..somehow…"

"This is a good idea! We have to think about what we will do, and organize our intervention! I could try and ask the sheriff if he wants to help? But my guess…is…that he is probably employed by Baxter…right?"

Artemus agreed silently.

Gregory quickly realized that this operation was going to be very a small one.

"Let's keep Baxter's men here, tied up nicely, go to Murdock's house…kidnap him, bring him to the train, and organize our intervention…does this sound like a plan? asked Artemus while making Loretta stand up, and start to walk toward the exit of the kitchen.

"Perfect!" agreed Gregory, while following his new found partner.

"I want to help also!" said Dorothy, following the men.

"You will! Don't worry my dear!" replied Artemus, leading the way out.

 ****** 40 minutes later…**

Sound asleep, Robert Murdock slowly came to his senses; someone was heavily knocking on his door.

He extended his arm, took his oil lamp, that was still making shadows dance along the walls of his bedroom, and slowly got out of bed.

He grabbed his bathrobe, put it on, and painfully walked to the entrance of the house; the man wasn't a spring chicken.

"All right! All right! I'm coming!"

He placed his lamp on a small table near the door, and looked trough the side window.

He rubbed his eyes, to be sure he wasn't dreaming; a breathtaking woman was standing on his porch! She looked distressed.

"Can I help you?" He shouted through the door.

"Oh …yes!" said the poor woman, with a high pitched voice.

" My buggy broke down, a couple of feet away…I didn't now where's to go this late! I thought I might try your home…thinking that, someone would help me! Could you open the door please…I will probably wake up the neighborhood talking this loud at this time of night!"

Murdock sighed then, slowly opened the door on the poor defenseless woman.

Seeing her face to face was a unique experience for him, since he was old and didn't share the company of beautiful women anymore. It was a very nice way to be awaken until he felt a cold metal object on the side of his face.

"Don't say a word, don't even think of shouting, go back inside and we won't hurt you."

The poor man didn't know what was going on and did exactly what was asked of him; a gun was pointed on his face!

Dorothy, got in followed by Artie and Gregory, leading the way to the kitchen with Murdock's oil lamp.

"Close all the curtains!" said Artemus while sitting the man down at the kitchen's table.

"If it is money you want…I don't keep money in my house! I keep all in the bank! You will have to wait for…"

Murdock was rudely cut by Gregory who didn't want to waste time listening to the old doctor.

"Don't worry, Murdock, all we want is for you to come with us. You just need to disappear for a day or 2, and then we will bring you back here, in your house!"

The old man seemed surprised by what he heard.

"What? What does this mean!?"

" The less you know, the safer it is for you! Before we bring you with us, you will pack your doctor's kit as if you were going for an operation…an operation that has to do with implanting something in someone's neck." said Artemus, making sure the doctor listened to him.

The old man seemed a bit disoriented.

"Something in someone's neck? Do you need me to perform a medical intervention?"

"NO!" Replied Dorothy, Artemus and Gregory at the same time.

They all looked at each other, amused for a second.

" No, we really don't need you for an operation." said Artemus." We promise you we won't hurt you. I work for the government, and I just need to use your identity for a day or 2…that's all!"

"Oh..I see..." said the doctor, trying to understand the situation.

"Now…where is your medical kit?" asked Gregory.

"You need my medical kit? It is in my den; right this way!"

The old doctor started to walk toward to the adjacent room with Artemus following him closely.

"You are alone, right? No one in the house with you?"

"I am alone sir. My wife passed away 20 years ago…I never remarried…"

"Oh..I see. Now, show me your doctor's kit, you will get dressed, and we will leave very soon."

The old doctor graciously showed Artemus what he would use for his operation. Gregory took care of bringing the kit with them while Artemus waited for the man to get dressed.

1 hour later, Artemus, and his friends, including Loretta ( whom they had left tied up behind the house) and the old doctor were all in the train, in the main living space, sitting down waiting to hear what would happen the next day. It was already so late!

Artemus, told them that he would transform himself, to take Murdock's place tomorrow at Baxter's mansion. Since, Loretta was now showing sign of repentance, she offered her help in getting the uncles out of there, with James, safe and sound. She knew how to get in, and she also knew where the secret doors were. Most importantly, Baxter didn't know she had turned, she could use that to her advantage. Gregory wasn't too keene on that idea but they needed all the help they could get.

Artemus, offered Jim's bedroom to Dorothy, and let Loretta and her two male companions sleep on the sofas and on the floor of the living room. It wasn't comfortable but, it would have to do. Gregory wanted to keep an eye on her, not totally trusting her with her new attitude.

Artemus, went to his special room, where he worked until the early hours of the morning to prepare for his costume and his make-up. He would have to look almost identical to Murdock because otherwise he would be uncovered and the whole plan would fall to pieces.

To be continued…


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Good old doctor is here!

Someone was slowly caressing James's chest. It was weird because at this very moment his head felt like it was ready to explode from the throbbing pain, and yet, he also felt a rather pleasant sensation of someone gently stroking his hairy chest. Curious as to why he was experiencing those two distinct feelings at once, he slowly opened his eyes, only to discover that his shirt was open wide.

James realized that he was the main focus of Nina, who had started to undress him, and who was caressing his bare chest with slow deliberate movements. The caresses were strangely soft for a woman who previously threatened to kill him.

James also noticed that both of his hands were tied to the posts of a headboard.

"Damn it! Still tied up." he thought while simply looking at Nina, waiting for her to speak.

She had noticed he had woken up but was still slowly enjoying her time alone with him. James looked around to see if there was anyone else in the room with them, but to his regret, he was the only one in the room with Nina.

"This is not good" he thought, while trying to stay focused.

Nina finally broke the awkward silence.

"You are a very fit man, West. I imagined you would be quite muscular, but not THAT much!"

James didn't know if he should answer or just stay quiet.

She directly looked at him, encouraging him to engage a conversation with her.

"Do you train in a special way?" she went on, still having fun with his bare chest.

James who had his shirt wide open, hesitated before answering. Nina was unstable and he sure didn't want to receive a punch…where he knew it would hurt.

" Yes…the more fit I am, better it is for my job…"

She sighed.

"This is a sad situation…really. What a shame it is to kill you. What a magnificent specimen you are West."

She smiled strangely.

"Thanks…" said James, not knowing what else to say.

"I hope you don't mind, me…undressing you a bit…I was curious…"

"Not at all…after all…I am your prisoner aren't I?"

Nina slowly nodded her head.

"Indeed you are, West."

There was an awkward silence, then Nina suddenly stood up and walked around his cell. There was only a small oil lamp in the room, and it made her shadow dance along the grey walls of the cell. The place was humid and smelled real bad. There were probably some dead rats in the place.

"It is sad…really that…you won't be there to see Baxter become the next President…and me…kill my cousin. It's a shame, really…"

"Then why don't you make Baxter change is crazy idea, and keep me as your prisoner so I can see him realize his master plan?"

Nina, sighed, then turned her back to James, but continued to talk.

"You don't know Baxter as well as I do. Once the man as an idea in his head…no one can make him change his mind…not even me. I'm truly sorry West…but…tonight is your last night on this good ol' earth."

And on this note, Nina returned to see James, sat beside him, leaned toward him, and started to kiss him passionately. It was a rather pleasant kiss, until James felt Nina's hand on his nose, blocking it, and with her other hand, placing a small pill in his mouth, forcing him to swallow it.

James tried his best not to swallow the pill, frantically turing his to the right and to the left, but his reflexes had the best of him. Either he swallowed it or died of asphyxia.

"Damn it Nina! What did I just swallowed?" said James coughing, nervous he had swallowed something he should've have!

"Don't worry James…you will still be here in the morning…sleep tight. I did enjoy our kiss...very much."

Nina got up, and James immediately started to feel the effect of the pill she had given him. It was some sort of drug that made him feel dizzy and fall asleep in seconds.

"Damn you Nina!" said James with a blurry voice, before falling into the arms of Morpheus.

 **The next day** ….

"Today is a wonderful day!"

Excited, Baxter quickly left the dining table rubbing his two hands together, as if he was about to open a Christmas gift.

Nina and 3 of Baxter's men followed him to the living room. They were not as excited as he was, but didn't show it; they knew he would not appreciate them not sharing his enthusiasm for his experiment.

Baxter took his pocket watch out and looked at the time.

"He will soon be here, and then we will see if my genius invention will work! Go get West in the basement and bring him to the living room!" ordered Baxter while re-arranging some flowers that were in a vase near the hallway.

Baxter's men quickly obeyed his orders and changed direction to go downstairs.

"Oh! And get the uncles also! I want them to see what awaits them!"

Baxter went in his luxurious living room and sat in his big chair, upholster in red velvet. Nina, went by the window to see if Doctor Murdock was arriving.

"Is he here? Do you see him?"

Nina sighed.

"No…" she looked at the grandfather clock and saw that the doctor was indeed, late.

Baxter, acting all nervous, stood up and started to walk around his living room.

"He's late as usual…I hope he received my telegram!"

Nina, turned her back to the window and tried calming him down.

"Of course he did! May be he got stuck in an emergency? Who knows?"

There was an awkward silence between the two of them, then Nina added with a very soft voice;

"It's a shame really to kill West…he is such a wonderful specimen of strength and agility!"

Baxter didn't look at Nina and didn't answer right away.

She waited in expectation, hoping that Baxter would change his mind. She kinda liked kissing Jim, and kept playing the scene of their shared kiss, over and over in her head since the night before.

"No Nina!" replied Baxter with an angry tone of voice."We are having the experiment on him! I want to be sure it works! He will be the perfect subject!"

Nina didn't look at him and was relieved to see that Dr. Murdock was arriving at the front door. She didn't want to have to suffer Baxter's anger.

"He's here."

"Let's go greet him at the door!"

A very anxious Baxter was already on his way to greet Dr. Murdock.

He opened the door before Murdock could even knock, his hand still in mid-air as Baxter greeted him with a big smile.

"Murdock! How are you my friend!"

Before the good old doctor could even say a word, he started to cough violently.

Baxter stood at the door, baffled to see his good ol' friend sick as a dog.

"Murdock? You're sick?"

After a few coughs, the good old doctor could finally speak.

" Yes…but…it is just a laryngitis..and my throat it hurting me a bit…" he coughed again…" but I will be fine. I am terribly sorry I was late."

Baxter strangely didn't reply immediately to the old doctor's last comment. There was awkward silence before Baxter finally answered his friend.

"Come in, come in! Let's get this day started. We have a big day ahead of us".

Baxter let the old man in and together, accompanied by Nina, went in the living room.

Murdock took place in a beautiful chair and placed his medical kit on the floor next to him.

"So…why do you need me…." He coughed, " today, for?"

"My good friend, I have invented a little something that will revolutionize the world, and I want YOU to perform an operation on a man who will serve as a guinea pig."

The old doctor looked preoccupied.

" I see…"

Right at this instant, James appeared, both hands tied up with the two uncles right behind him. Baxter's men pushed him in the middle of the living room while the two uncles were pushed down on the next sofa next to The old doctor.

"West is more then ready Boss!"

Baxter came to greet Jim with his smirk.

"Ready for the BIG day West?"

James looked around the room and his eyes stopped on the old doctor who was sitting on a chair near him.

"I see you brought the doctor in? Is that it?"

Murdock painfully stood up and approached the prisoner.

"May I?" He asked while approaching James.

"Yes! Of course Murdock, he is your patient after all!" replied Baxter letting the old man look at James.

The old doctor stood in front of Jim, and started to examine him.

"I see...I see...a fine specimen..." he said with a croaky voice.

He turned around Jim, tapping him, here and there, on the shoulders, on the legs, looking in his ears and so on.

Once right in front of him, at about 2 inches from his face, after having Jim open his mouth and looked inside his mouth and his teeth, Murdock looked at West and gave him a very subtile quick wink.

"And you want me to do what?" he said curious as what Baxter would say next.

No one saw a thing, except Jim, who suddenly realized that the old doctor was in fact his old partner who had found a way to help him out, once again. James barely recognized Artie under his disguise.

"I knew you would come through for me" thought James, keeping a straight face.

Meanwhile...with Dorothy, Gregory and Loretta.—

"Are you sure this leads to Baxter's mansion?" asked Gregory, still not totally trusting Loretta.

"Yes! Baxter had the great idea to dig a tunnel under those houses, to finally lead to his house! It was also meant as an escape, he showed me the way! Follow me!"

Our trio entered a house that looked abandoned only to go open a floor trap hidden in the kitchen and go even further in the ground.

"This will lead to Baxter's house...in his basement where he keeps the guns, and other things...we should be able to get inside the house with no problems..."

Gregory was walking in half darkness with Dorothy following close behind him. Loretta was walking rather fast.

"You sure look like you know your way around this place" said Gregory, trying to remember by which way they had come in.

"I have a god memory." simply replied Loretta, busy, leading the way.

To be continued...


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17...All Hell Broke Loose**!

Meanwhile with James and Artie...

"What do you say we finish his examination in the laboratory, old friend?" proposed Baxter rubbing his two hands together, eager to see James suffer.

"Yes...yes..." ( coughing) " that's the place to be...if you want to explain to me what it is you want me to do!"

Artemus took his medical kit, and stood there in the middle of the room, waiting for Baxter to lead the way.

"After you my friend!" said Baxter...inviting his old friend to pass in front of him.

Artemus had no idea where the laboratory was, and panic at the idea that Baxter would quickly realize that something was wrong.

Trying to change the situation, he started to cough violently.

"I'm sorry... give me a minute...or just start walking...I need a second here to catch my breath."

Baxter didn't move an iota.

Realizing that Artemus's cover would be blown, if he didn't do nothing, James acted fast and made a diversion. He ran into one of Baxter 's men and tried his best to escape. He looked silly running with his hands tied behind his back, but he knew that this little diversion would get Baxter angry and bring him immediately to the laboratory.

Artemus, who was standing in the way of Jim's escape, was violently pushed down on his chair while Baxter's men jumped in and tried to pin James down on the middle of the living room floor.

It didn't take long for them to neutralize James. He had his face down on the floor and a knee up between his two shoulder blades.

"Get that son of a B**** downstairs! Enough stalling!"

Baxter was terribly mad because James managed to break a very precious vase on his attempt at escaping. He made sure to hit it, so Baxter would get very angry and may be forget about Artemus's hesitation.

"Come on! Let's go to the lab!"

Nina, who had been watching the whole scene without interfering, was secretly hoping that James would have made it out. She had also noticed that James's attempt at escaping came at a very weird time. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it, but felt that the last moment was somehow "staged".

She followed the group downstairs to the famous laboratory. Artemus, who was the last one coming down the stairs, made sure to keep coughing all the way down, to keep playing his role. He thought of disguising his voice with coughs to hide the fact that it wasn't exactly like Murdock's real voice. Clever, and working so far? He wasn't so sure of it.

Finally after a short walk, Artemus arrived in the very spacious laboratory were James was already lying on an examination table, both arms tied up with restraints.

Artemus quickly looked around the place only to realize that Baxter had quite a place! He even had some gadget Artemus would have liked in his own laboratory!

"Come in Murdock! Let me show you the little gadget I want you to implant in his neck!"

The two uncles who had also come down to the laboratory, were lined-up against a cement wall and told to keep quiet. They barely had enough strength to stay on their feet.

Artemus stood beside James, placed his medical kit on the table, right next to him.

 **MEANWHILE with Loretta and Gregory and Dorothy...**

"This a very long underground corridor!" said Gregory, trying to keep up with Loretta, who was strangely walking faster and faster.

"I know..."

was her simple answer. It was almost pitch dark inside, and she was walking as easily as she would have had on the outside streets in broad daylight.

Dorothy, tried her best to keep up the pace but her little fancy shoes were not made to walk in gravel and dirt. As she tried to keep up with Gregory and Loretta, she suddenly felt her ankle violently turn on the right, because of a hole in the ground. She let out a little cry of pain, and stopped walking to make sure her foot was okay.

"I think I hurt my ankle!" she said trying not to speak to loud.

Gregory stopped and came back to see if Dorothy was okay. She was bending down and rubbing her ankle to make the pain go away.

"We are walking so fast that I can't keep up with those stupid shoes!" said Dorothy, angry at the situation.

"Yeah, I know...Loretta is walking pretty fast!" said Gregory while taking a look at Dorothy's foot.

He had barely bent down, when metal bars suddenly came down from the roof of the corridor. He had to push Dorothy further so they would not be crushed by the bars heavily coming down on them.

They were prison bars!

They both fell on the ground, wondering what had triggered this heavy mechanism.

Gregory tried to see if Loretta was still around. He finally saw that she was standing on the other side of the bars, not moving an inch to help them.

"Loretta! You got to help us! What is this?" said Gregory trying not to panic.

"It's Baxter's alarm system, you triggered it! His man are coming, they will be here in seconds!"

"Then help us!" shouted Gregory.

Loretta stood there and only moved her head from side to side in silence.

"You little devil!" shouted Dorothy now standing up, terribly mad at the situation.

"Is that it? You still wanna be on Baxter's side?" asked Gregory, both hands on the bars, trying to break them.

Footsteps and voices were now getting closer and closer. Gregory took out his gun and was prepared to defend himself.

"He has a gun! You guys better watch-out!" shouted Loretta to the men, now only feet away.

"When I get my hands on her, I will strangle this b****" said Dorothy, giving Loretta one of her looks.

4 men arrived at the scene, armed to their teeth. Dorothy was more then willing to tell them she had caught these two.

"This is Gregory and Dorothy, they work with a man called Artemus, they wanted to get in and help the two uncles escape and at the same time, save James West. I made sure they would trigger the bars! We have to tell Baxter, as quickly as possible!"

Loretta was pointing at Gregory and Dorothy, who had by now, gave up the fight. They knew, they didn't stand a chance, being caged up like animals.

One of the man, lifted up a crank that was on the side of the corridor to lift up the bars while the rest of the men picked them up and took Gregory's gun.

"Baxter will be happy to see you!" said one of them, violently pushing Gregory and Dorothy to lead the way.

 **Meanwhile...with James and Artie...**

Artemus had just dropped his medical kit on the floor. It was all planned, of course and used as a diversion. While Baxter's men were trying to pick his medical equipment that was all over the floor, Artemus discretely cut James's large leather restraints with a very little sharp razor blade that had a small handle on it. He was so quick, no one even saw a thing; the leather easily gave in. He then gave the blade to James, resting his hand on his arms, telling him, with that gesture, to stay put for a second. Artemus hoped that James would be able to make out the rest of the plan on his own...since he couldn't tell him what was coming next.

Artie thought he could grab Baxter, put his gun to his head, while James would disarm the other men, with the help of Gregory, of course, and tie them up. They only had to wait a little bit for them to arrive to the scene.

The plan was simple, yes, but would it work? He didn't know. All they had to do was wait for Dorothy and Gregory to join them.

Baxter who had his back turned on Artemus, quickly turned around, to see what all the noise was about. He saw Artemus, trying to bend down and help the men pick up his equipment.

"My old friend! What is going on with you? You're clumsy today! Leave that cleaning up to my men, let me show you my new invention!"

Baxter looked at the scene, as if he didn't care about this situation at all! He was already on his way to show the old doctor what is invention looked like while his men were still picking up the medical equipment on the floor. Artemus made sure that the bag had a lot of equipment in it; more then necessary even, so it would take longer to pick up.

Artemus managed to stay close to James, trying to get Baxter closest to him as possible. His hand was already in his inside pocket, resting on his small gun.

It was a plan, may be not the perfect plan, but it was all they had for now in this very guarded environment.

Baxter was now inches away from Artemus and James, still blabbing about his invention, and how the idea came to his head. No one was listening to him, not even Nina, looking at her nails.

Artemus was the only one listening to him, trying to keep his cool, and still trying to slowly bring him closer to him without Baxter noticing his intentions.

"Come on! Get closer you son of a b***" thought James, waiting patiently, ready to jump in action!

As Baxter was about to be, "just in the right spot", he suddenly stoped, extended his right arm and a miniature derringer suddenly came out of his sleeve. Artemus was the target of his gun. Everyone in the place wondered what this was all about.

James, still lying down on the stretcher, didn't move yet; stayed lying down as if his restraints were still in place. Artemus, on his part, still had his hand on his inside pocket and stayed cool as ever.

"Do you think I am a fool?" said Baxter with an angry voice.

Neither Artemus nor James replied. As for Nina, she was more then ever intrigued by what was happening.

There was an awkward silence in the room, tension building up between Baxter and Artemus.

Finally, after a few seconds of hesitations, Artemus dared to say:

"What is this? he said still using the old doctor's voice with the gun inches away from his face.

"No need to pretend you're Murdock, because I know you're not! Wanna know how I found out?" said Baxter arrogant still pointing the gun.

Another awkward silence in the room.

Artemus pressed his lips together, mad at himself for being discovered

"What? The disguise was not good?" he said, using his own voice.

Baxter still had his gun in his face, not moving an inch.

"No! I must admit that you had me fooled! You must be a master at this art, because, you had me!"

"Then...what was it?" dared to ask Artemus, still with his hand inside his jacket.

"Murdock never apologized for being late! The son of a bitch was always late, but never apologized! This is why I knew you weren't him! That was the little mistake you did!"

Artemus nodded his head.

"I see..."

"How could I have made such a rookie mistake?" he thought, still keeping his calm. He then added:

" A Derringer?" he asked while admiring the gun from a very close perspective.

"Yes! A small concealed Derringer! West is not the only one to have gadgets, you know!" replied Baxter, with a triumphant tone of voice.

Nina and all the others, were still silence spectators of this scene.

James, still lying on the table, was waiting for the right time to bounce. He wanted Artemus to be out of range of Baxter's gun.

"Now...you will do as I say and slowly take your hand out of your jacket..." said Baxter through his teeth.

Artemus waited for a second, took a long breath and then simply said:

"You know... Baxter...you are not the only one to have tricks up your sleeves."

Baxter didn't even have the time to realize what was happening and what Artemus meant by that remark. He had already thrown a small marble on the floor; some kind of explosive device. A giant cloud of smoke quickly filled the room.

What happened next was chaotic, violent, and surprising in many ways.

James leaped out from the examination table, and started to fight with Baxter's men, throwing them around like puppets.

Artemus, punched Baxter in the face, as he fell violently on the floor.

The uncles, too afraid, went to the corner of the room and stayed there, afraid for their lives.

Dorothy, Gregory and Loretta arrived at the chaotic scene, seconds later and were thrown in the arena, with all the other fighters.

Loretta, now not so brave, stayed behind and joined the uncles in the far corner of the room.

Gregory started to fight with the man right behind him, and pushed the other ones on the floor. He turned out to be pretty good at this! Dorothy, wanting to help, managed to escape her guard's grip by bitting his hand, and threw glass tubes and other laboratory devices at Baxter's men. It was a brawl happening in a thick smoke, where everyone was fighting to get out alive.

It was so thick that James grabbed Gregory a couple of times, thinking he was fighting with one of Baxter's men.

Glass was broken, but arms and legs also, and let's not forget jaws badly hurt!

This incredible scene was going on when, a gun shot, suddenly resonated in the room. Someone had pulled the trigger. Was someone badly hurt?

The smoke started to dissipate and what the uncles saw, scared them even more.

Artemus was held by 2 of Baxter's men, while James had a gun pointed to his head by Baxter himself. Gregory and Dorothy were also in a bad spot, being restrained by 2 other employees.

No one seems injured. Then who fired the shot?

Nina still had her arm in the air.

"Enough!" she shouted, trying to gain control of the situation.

" Well Done Nina!" said Baxter, while hitting James in the stomach, to make his point.

"This circus has lasted enough!" said Baxter, happy that the situation had turned out in his advantage.

James was furious to see that he had not managed to change the situation they were in.

Baxter, still holding James at gun point, then realized that Dorothy was in the room with them. He gave her one look and simply said,

"Oh! Miss Spencer! Glad you could join us! I'd like you to meet your dear cousin Nina! I bet you didn't think you would ever see her again!" he said while titling his head on her direction.

Intrigued, Dorothy looked at Baxter, then Dorothy, then Baxter again, in total shock.

"What do you mean...my cousin? Aren't you the woman who worked for Brett Allen?"

Baxter made sure her facts were straight.

"This is Nina Spencer, Greg Spencer's daughter."

Dorothy felt as if she was hit with a tone of brick.

"What? Nina? Nina Spencer, MY cousin?"

Artemus recognized the woman who worked for Brett Allen, and who probably killed him as well. He gave James a quick worried look. James, on his part, knew that Nina wanted to kill Dorothy; he had to do something, fast!

"You are my cousin? My long lost cousin?" asked Dorothy, trying to learn more about this situation.

"Yes...I am your cousin." answered Nina, with her gun now pointing in her direction.

"But...but...I have been trying to find you for all those years! Why didn't you say a word to me, back at the mansion?" said Dorothy, desperate to know more about this sordid situation.

"Trying to find me?" replied Nina, with an angry tone. "Your father convinced my father to leave town and leave my mother and me, alone, to fend for ourselves!"

Dorothy suddenly looked sad.

"I didn't know this!"

"Nina, swore to kill you, Miss Spencer. Today is your last day on earth." said Baxter, enjoying the confrontation.

"Why? I didn't do nothing! On the contrary! I spend the last years trying to find you! I have been trying to find you even before my father died!"

"Nina killed your father!" replied Baxter, more then happy to tell her this fact.

"You what?" screamed Dorothy with anger.

Nina sighed and seemed annoyed by Baxter for spilling her secrets.

"You killed my father?" said Dorothy, with a surprised look. She wanted an answer right away!

Nina sighed, then after a pause, finally said:

"No...I didn't. I just told Baxter I did, so I would look even more tough. Your father was killed by a bunch of sailors who wanted their money. He wasn't too good at keeping tabs on how much money he owed to people...and this is what got him killed...he had a gambling problem..."

Another awkward silence. Dorothy knew her father had a very big gambling problem as well; she was indeed telling the truth about that!

"What? Nina? You lied to me?" said Baxter, hurt by the fact that she lied about her past.

Nina moved her attention from Dorothy to Baxter.

"I did...so what? Does this change our plans? I mean...your plans?"

"Well...no but...I don't appreciate being lied to!" Baxter was angrier by the second.

Dorothy intervened in their conversation.

"Nina! Please! You have to believe me when I said that I wanted to find you! My own father discouraged me from trying, but as soon as I learned about your existence, I tried all my life to find you! I even have proof of that, private detectives and all!"

James and Artemus looked at each other. This situation was now changing. They had a chance to make it out alive after all, if Dorothy kept playing her cards right.

Nina turned her attention to Dorothy.

"You did? You tried to find me?"

" I did! I swear on my mother's grave, may God be my witness, that I tried all my life to find where you were living! But I just could not find you! It was as if you didn't existed!"

"Of course you couldn't find Nina! She lived all her life with tugs and thieves!" said Baxter still holding Jame at gun point.

Nina, for a quick second, seemed again annoyed by Baxter's reply.

" I was living underground for many years. I had no choice, but to become myself a bad person...I had to survive, and this was the only way."

"I can understand what you did because you didn't have any choice! But let me help you Nina! You don't belong in this world! Let me help you...to"

Dorothy was given a hard punch in the stomach by the man that was holding her by the arm. Baxter had just ordered the hit with a simple nod of the head.

James wanted to bounce but tried to keep his cool. He was convinced that a little help would make Nina switch sides. He joined the conversation before Baxter could reverse the situation.

"Nina! I know you are a good person deep down inside! If you help us, we will be able to give you, your life back! A real life! Not a life of crimes!"

James also inherited a punch in the stomach, courtesy of Baxter.

Artemus continued in the same sense.

"You seem like you know what to do Nina! Your cousin is ready to help you get back into the society! But you need to help..."

Artemus also received a punch in the stomach to shut him up.

"Enough! I have had enough of this charade! If West can't be my dummy for the implant, well, he'll just have to die anyway, and so will you!"

Baxter was by now pointing his gun at Dorothy, with the intention of firing it. He left James, secure, in the hands of one of his guard.

"Damn it!" thought James, still held up at gun point.

Then, out of the blue, Nina did something no one saw coming.

She placed herself in front of Dorothy, and pointed her gun back at Baxter.

James was by now ready to intervene, but waited, to see how this situation would turn out. He , somehow, had a gut feeling that Nina would finish it on her own terms.

" What does this means Nina?"

"It means that I am tired of you and your orders!"

Baxter's eyebrows went up, surprised by her answer and didn't respond right away.

"Nina" he said with a soft voice "don't ruin our plans. Be a good girl, like you usually are, and kill West and his buddies! I will forgive you if you do as I say. Enough wasting time!"

All eyes were riveted on Baxter and Nina.

She sighed heavily.

"No..."

"What do you mean? No!"

It was now a confrontation between the two. Not wanting to lose this argument, Baxter made a quick nod of the head to one of his men who was standing behind Nina and he quickly jumped on her, easily taking her gun away.

Artemus was by now really scared for Dorothy. He looked at her and saw that she was really pissed off that she was so easily disarmed.

The uncles, still sitting in the corner of the room were holding out their breath. George Spencer didn't want to lose his niece to that Evil man!

"Nina, do you really think you could change the course of plan? You are nothing to me now." said Baxter while slowly walking towards her with the intention to terminate her. Artemus and James looked at each other with a worried look. Though Artemus was strongly convinced things would not turn for the best, James, on the other side, was convinced that Nina had more then one ace up her sleeve.

"It's too bad really, Nina...I kinda liked you...but you will also die today...I regret having to do this..but you left me no choice."

Awkward silence in room, just before Nina answered, in a defiant tone:

"No...YOU will die today, you son of a b****!"

Nina was so fast, that no one saw her throw a small knife coming out of her sleeve. The knife landed directly into Baxter's heart. He looked at his chest, and fell down, with a look of disbelief on his face.

« Good job Nina! » thought James while smiling.

Everyone else was stunned. Baxter's men looked at each other, and realized that their boss was dead. This changed everything! They then tried to leave the place before getting caught but James, Artemus, Gregory and Nina made sure they stayed right where they were. Loretta, who tried running way, was caught up by Dorothy who threw a weird pipe ce of laboratory equipement; Loretta fell flat on her face.

7 **days later...**

Everyone was enjoying a nice evening at the train. Jackson and Spencer now looked relaxed and healthier then a week ago. Everyone was there, chatting and exchanging their views on their latest adventure. James and Artie were looking at their guest while sipping their champaign slowly.

"This was quite an adventure Artie."

"I know! And to say that Baxter almost killed you..." said Artemus with emotion.

"That son of a b*** had a good plan! I have to admit it!" replied James, looking at their guests, still enjoying his champaign.

"He did" admitted Artemus. "If only Dorothy would not have destroyed all his equipment, may be I could have brought some here back on the train...and tried to rebuild his little pea device!"

James gave Artemus a funny look.

"No more pea device for me, Artie. In fact, no more peas when you cook! I think this whole story made me cautious of those little green things!"

By now Dorothy and Nina had left the others and joined them.

"I guess this is out time to leave now, if we don't want to miss our train."

Artemus seemed sad to see Dorothy leave but knew he would see her again in 1 week.

"You will join us in 1 week, right?" asked Dorothy while putting her hand on Artemus's arm.

"Yes, we will both be there for Nina's trial." said Artemus, enjoying Dorothy's presence. He then added;

"Don't worry Nina, my friend Gerard will try and get you minimum sentencing for Allen's murder...then once your time is done, your new life will await you."

"And so will I! added Dorothy giving her cousin a great big hug.

The two uncles approached James and Artie to say their goodbyes.

"Thank you so much again for saving our lives. We will never forget this adventure for as long as we live, right George?"

Both men shared so much they had become good friends.

"Right! I have had enough of evil man with evil plans for now! I just wanna go back to my boring little life!"

Everyone started to laugh at Spencer's last remark. They shook hands with Artemus and James and started to exit the train all at the same time, Gregory included.

Before following the group out, Nina turned to James and said with a smokey voice:

"Thank you James, for making me see clearly. It was sad that we didn't get to know each other better but...I..."

She stopped, leaned in and gave James a very sensual kiss.

Artemus still in the room with them, walked toward the living room to give them some privacy.

After a few seconds later, Nina slowly leaned back and, still staying very close to James, said:

"This will help me while I'm in prison..."

"Glad I could help." said James with his usual calm low sexy voice.

Nina exited the train, without any further words.

Once alone again, after everyone had gone, just the two of them, sitting back and relaxing, Artemus stood up from his chair and said:

"Pea soup for dinner James my boy!?"

 **The end!**

 **Thank you for reading my little silly story!**


End file.
